



Glass_ 

Book_ 



/ 






THE FASTI, 



TMSTIA, PONTIC EPISTLES, 



IBIS, AXD HALIEUTICON 



OVID. 



LITERALLY TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH PROSE, 
WITH COPIOUS NOTES, 

BY HENRY T. RILEY, B.A. 

OF CLAEE HALL, CAMBRIDGE. 




LONDON: 
H. G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 

MDCCCLI. 



% 






1 J. BILLING, 

PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER, 
WOKING, SURREY. 

Library of Congress 




2010 



554460 



PREFACE. 



If the following pages shall be found to express the meaning 
of the author, with fidelity and tolerable neatness of diction, 
the object proposed will have been accomplished. 

Some few deviations have been made from the strict letter 
of the text, in cases where usage, or the idiom of our lan- 
guage, seemed to .render such a course desirable. From the 
peculiar nature of Elegiac compositions, which mostly run in 
detached couplets, the use of the conjunction copulative oc- 
curs much more frequently than would be consistent with v 
our ideas of euphony ; and we often find the poet employing 
in the same sentence the present, perfect, and pluperfect tenses 
almost indiscriminately, a strict adherence to which, in the 
English language, would be extremely inelegant. In many 
instances of this nature, and in several, where the only alter- 
native has been either a departure from the exact words of the 

a 2 



IV PKEFACE. 

author, or a violation of decorum, the former course has been 
adopted. The distinction between the use of the pronoun 
"you," and the more sententious "thou," which has been 
very generally neglected in prose translations of the classical 
writers, has been carefully observed throughout. 

The several critical editions of the original text vary much 
in respect to punctuation ; the translator has therefore adopted 
one or the other, according as it appeared to him the most 
clearly to elucidate the author's meaning. In the Fasti the 
text of Krebs has been followed, excepting in a few passages. 
In the Tristia and Pontic Epistles, he has used that given in 
Valpy's classics. 

The Variorum editions, especially Burmann's magnum opus, 
and the editions of the ( Fasti' by Keightley, Thynne, and 
Stanford (productions which reflect considerable credit on 
their respective editors), have been carefully consulted, and 
many notes of especial value to the student selected there- 
from. Dr. Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Eoman Anti- 
quities, and Mr. Keightley' s Mythology of Ancient Greece and 
Italy, have also proved fertile sources of information. 

A translation of the Fasti, by Dr. Butt, of Trinity College, 
Dublin, was published some years since ; and the first three 
Books have been translated by Mr. Thynne, the editor of the 
Latin text. The former of these is unaccompanied by notes, 
and the annotations given in Mr. Thynne' s translation are 
scarcely sufficient in the hands of the English reader, for 
the elucidation of a work so replete with allusions to the 
manners, customs, superstitions, and traditions of antiquity, 



PREFACE. V 

and so abounding in passages of obscure and doubtful 
meaning. 

A poetical translation of the Fasti, by John Gower, "Master 
of Arts, and sometime of Jesus Colledge," was published at 
Cambridge by Roger Daniel, the University printer, in 1640. 
It is an attempt to translate the poem into English verse, line 
"for Hue. How the translator has performed his task will be 
seen from the accompanying specimens, which have been 
culled here and there from his work. The almost burlesque 
style generally employed by him, forcibly reminds us of Cot- 
ton's more famous Travesty of the first and fourth books of 
the iEneid, while the taste displayed is certainly not superior 
to that of Sternhold and Hopkins. 

A poetical translation of the Fasti, assuming to be nearly 
literal, was published in 1/57, by William Massey, "Master 
of a boarding-school at Wandsworth." So far as mere versi- 
fication is concerned, it is somewhat better than Gower' s trans- 
lation, though it is by no means so faithful. 

A poetical translation of the Tristia, by Wye Saltonstall, 
was published in the earlier part of the seventeenth cen- 
tury ; and by its fidelity, and the terseness and fluency of 
its language, does considerable credit to its now forgotten 
author. 

The Pontic Epistles do not appear to have been ever pub- 
lished in an English form, either verse or prose. 

The Invective against the Ibis was " faithfully translated 
into English verse by John Jones, M.A., teacher of a private 



v j PItEFACE. 

school in the city of Hereford/' in 1658. The style is not 
much superior to that of Gower, and the book, with its notes 
and deductions, is a curious medley, to use the Translator's 
own words, of "Natural, Moral, Poetical, Political, Mathema- 
tical, and Theological Applications." 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF OVID. 

The little that is known to us of the personal history of this 
poet has been principally gathered by the research of various 
scholars from ~ detached passages in his works, which inci- 
dentally bear reference to himself or to his family. From 
contemporary writers we learn nothing of his history ; and 
those of the succeeding age are almost equally silent respect- 
ing him. 

Publius Ovidius Naso was born at Sulmo, a small town of 
Pelignum, situated in the Apennines, and about ninety miles 
from Rome, on the 20th of March, a.tt.c. 711, or B.C. 43, 
being the year in which the consuls Hirtius and Pansa fell 
at the battle of Mutina. He was of Equestrian family, and 
had one brother, who was his senior by exactly a year, and 
who died at the early age of twenty. 

The patrimonial property of his family appears to have 
been of limited extent ; and he was trained by his parents to 
habits of strict frugality. In his writings he speaks of his 
hereditary estate at Sulmo, and of his house in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Capitol ; and he also makes mention of his 
orchards in the vicinity of the Claudian Way. 

By the desire of his father he proceeded to Rome, and, 
with his brother, commenced the study of law and rhetoric ; 
but, finding that he was little fitted for these pursuits, and 
that his poetical tendencies ill-accorded with them, he neg- 
lected them as soon as he had adopted the "toga virilis,"" 
and thereby became his own master. Contrary to the advice 
of his father, who, as he tells us, often represented to him 



Till INTRODUCTION. 

that poetry was a worthless pursuit, and that Homer himself 
died in poverty, he devoted himself entirely to poetical com- 
position, and the Muses thenceforth became the chief objects 
of his veneration. 

To complete his education, in conformity with the custom 
of the time, he proceeded to Athens, the great school of 
philosophy ; and it was probably in his early years that he 
visited Sicily and Asia Minor. 

With the view, perhaps, of obtaining political preferment, 
he assumed the senatorial badge of the "broad hem," or 
" Laticlave," a right which seems to have been conferred by 
Augustus on the sons of persons of Equestrian rank, as a 
prelude to their entering the Senate ; and he soon after took 
office as one of the "Vigin twirl," or city magistrates. He 
afterwards acted as one of the " Centumviri," a body of one 
hundred and five officers elected from the thirty-five tribes of 
Home, and whose duty was to assist the Prsetor in questions 
where the right to property was litigated. He also occasion- 
ally acted as a private judge or arbitrator. 

He was three times married ; to his first wife, when, as he 
says, he was almost a boy ; but neither that marriage nor his 
succeeding one was of long duration ; and it is supposed that in 
both instances he had recourse to the then existing facilities 
of divorce. His last wife was of the Fabian family, and was 
a favourite of Marcia, the cousin of the Emperor Augustus. 
At the time of her marriage she was a widow, and had a 
daughter, who became the wife of Suilius, a friend of Ger- 
manicus. It was probably by her that the poet had a daughter, 
who, in his lifetime, was twice married, her second husband 
being Fidus Cornelius, a senator. It is not known whether 
he had any other children. 

In the fifty-first year of his age he was banished from Rome 
by the edict of the Emperor Augustus. By the terms of his 
' ' relegatio," or banishment, he was ordered to reside at Tomi 
(sometimes called Tomis, or Tomos), the principal city of 
Pontus ; but his rights as a citizen, he tells us, remained un- 
impaired. The place, whose site is now unknown, was situated 
in a bleak, inhospitable, climate, near the mouth of the Danube, 
a spot, in those days, on the very confines of civilization. The 
poet tells us that the people were immersed in barbarism, spoke 
the Getic language mingled with Greek, and wore " braccee," 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

or " trowsers/' after the manner of the Parthians. Having soon 
learned their language, he wrote a poem in it, which secured to 
him the esteem and sympathy of the natives. The immoral 
nature of some of his earlier writings is said to have been the 
cause of his exile ; and he informs us that they were excluded 
from the public libraries of Rome. There seems, however, to 
have been another and a more influential reason for his punish- 
ment, which he repeatedly hints at in his Pontic writings, but 
which he nowhere reveals. From his remarks it has been sup- 
posed by some that he had inadvertently been witness of an im- 
moral act of a member of the family of Augustus. Perhaps, as 
Julia, the Emperor's grand-daughter, was about that period 
banished for her extreme profligacy, he had, prematurely and 
by accident, become acquainted with her guilt, and had failed 
to keep silence on the subject. Other writers suggest that he 
had an intrigue with Julia, which was discovered by Augustus ; 
but there seem to be no good grounds for such a conjecture. 
The reason was, very probably, a political one. 

His departure from Rome was very precipitate, being in the 
midst of winter. He embarked at Brundisium for Greece, 
whence he took ship to the coast of Thrace, and completed 
his journey by land. 

He afterwards made repeated applications to Augustus and 
his successor, Tiberius, for a remission of his sentence ; but 
his entreaties were in vain, for he died at Tomi, in the ninth 
year of his exile, and the sixtieth of his age. We learn from 
Eusebius that his remains were buried at that place. 

His "Amores," or "Amours," were the work of his youth, 
and it is supposed that he destroyed the more objectionable 
portion of them. The " Epistolse Heroidum," or " Epistles of 
the Heroines," were written by him in about his thirty-second 
year. He next produced his " Ars Amatoria," or " Art of 
Love," which was quickly succeeded by his "Remedium 
Amoris," or "Cure of Love." He then devoted himself 
to the "Metamorphoses," his principal work ; which, when 
he received his sentence of exile, he committed, in an un- 
finished state, to the flames. Duplicate copies of that poem 
were, however, in the hands of his friends, and to this fact we 
are indebted for its preservation. It is uncertain whether the 
poet wrote six or twelve books of the " Fasti," or Roman 
Calendar. From a remark in his epistle to Augustus, in the 



X INTRODUCTION. 

sceond book of the " Tristia," it would appear, according to 
one mode of translating the passage, that he had written 
twelve books, one for each month, and that he was inter- 
rupted in the completion or revision of the work by his 
exile. Another meaning for the words there used by him, 
is, however, suggested in this Translation. Masson would 
interpret the passage as meaning that he had collected 
materials for the first six months only, and that he had 
worked them into a poem of six books. From the fact that 
allusions are made, in the Fasti, to political events which 
occurred very near to the close of his life, and the more striking 
circumstance, that among the very numerous quotations from 
that work by ancient writers, there is not one that is not to be 
found in the six books now possessed by us, we shall probably 
not err in the conclusion that either he wrote but six books, 
which he revised in his latter years, or that, if he wrote twelve, 
the last six were lost at his death. The four lines which are 
sometimes appended to the end of the sixth book of that work 
are placed in one of the Vatican MSS. as the commencement of 
a seventh book ; but they are universally regarded as spurious. 
Gronovius, indeed, informed Heinsius that he had seen an old 
copy of Ovid, in which Celtes Protacius, an eminent German 
scholar, had written to the effect that the remaining six books 
of the Fasti were in the possession of a clergyman near Ulm, 
and that the commencement of the seventh book was — 

" Tu quoque nmtati causas et nomine mensis, 
" A te, qui sequitur, maxime Caesar, habes." 

But Heinsius expresses it as his decided opinion that Protacius 
had been either misinformed or wilfully imposed upon. 

During his journey to Tomi Ovid wrote the first book of his 
"Tristia," or " Lament: 5 ' the next two books were com- 
posed in the second and third years of his exile, and the 
others in the following years. After the latter period he ad- 
dressed his friends in his " Pontic Epistles." 

His poem, " In Ibin," " against the Ibis," and his " Halieu- 
ticon," or " Treatise on Fishes," were also composed during 
his exile. Two other trifling poems of his also exist, which 
are supposed to have been the productions of his youth- 
ful years. Among his lost works we have to include his Getic 
composition in praise of Augustus, his tragedy of Medea, his 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

Elegy on the Death of Messala Corvinus, his Epigrams, a 
version of the Pheenomena of Aratus, a Poem on Bad Poets, 
one on the Battle of Actium, and another on the Illyrian Vic- 
tories of Tiberius. 

We are told that the poet was of delicate health, slight in 
figure, and of graceful manners. Like Horace, he was no lover 
of war ; and he was moderate in his diet, while he tempered 
his wine with copious dilutions of water. Though too sus- 
ceptible of the tender passion, we do not learn that he ever de- 
graded himself by sensual indulgences, and his kind and gentle 
demeanour rendered him generally beloved by his friends. 

The servility which he appears to manifest when address- 
ing Augustus and Tiberius would certainly reflect much dis- 
credit on him, if it could be shown to be the spontaneous 
effusion of his breast ; but, in justice to him, we ought to 
remember that adulation was the universal fashion of the day, 
and that, while he naturally longed for a return to his kin- 
dred, his friends, and his country, he was too sensible that 
he and his family were at the mercy of persons of no for- 
giving temper, and who would be satisfied with no homage 
short of servility. We shall, then, find some reason for pal- 
liating his conduct in this respect, and for, at least, considering 
him more excusable than many of his more ennobled and more 
favoured contemporaries, who did not disdain to swell the 
crowd of flatterers by which Augustus was surrounded. 



ON THE RECKONING OF TIME AMONG THE 
ROMANS. 

According- to Ovid, the year of Romulus consisted of ten 
months, commencing with the month of Martius, or March, 
and ending with December. Numa is said to have inserted 
two additional months, and we learn from the poet (in which 
statement, however, he is not confirmed by any other writer) 
that he prefixed January to March, and subjoined February to 
December, which order continued till the Decemviri placed 
February in its present position. The year of Romulus is 
supposed to have contained six months of thirty days, and 
four of thirty-one, making in all 304 days. The year of 
Numa originally consisted of 355 days, which falling short 



Xll IIS'TEODTJCTIOK. 

of the solar year, he supplied the defect by adding to every 
second year an intercalary month, which he called Mercedonius, 
consisting of twenty-two and twenty-three days alternately. 
This month was thrown in at the end of February in each 
year, and by this plan four years contained 1465 days, making 
an average annual excess of one day. This was corrected by 
reducing the number of days in the intercalarated month in 
every third "octennium," or period of eight years, by which 
means, in a cycle of twenty-four years, the Calendar was re- 
duced to the same state as if every year had consisted of 365 
days and a quarter. 

The direction of the intercalations was left with the Ponti- 
fices, and it is supposed that they frequently lengthened or 
shortened the year at their own option, for the benefit or 
detriment of the Consuls and other public officers, and the 
farmers of the revenue, according as they were friendly or 
hostile to them. 

These abuses, and the fact, that, as the fixed part of the 
year of Numa was not adapted to the sun's revolution, while 
the intercalary part did not observe the phases of the moon, 
the places of the seasons on the calendar were not exactly the 
same in any two consecutive years, influenced Julius Caesar, 
when Pontifex Maximus, to reform the Calendar, as by virtue 
of his office he was empowered to do. This was the more 
necessary, when we consider that the first of January had 
at that time retrograded nearly to the Autumnal equinox. To 
bring that day to its proper place, he made the current year 
to consist of 445 days, by adding two intercalary months of 
sixty-seven days to the usual intercalary month Mercedonius. 
This year is generally called "the year of confusion." His 
chief alteration was, the abolition of the month Mercedonius, 
and the distribution of the ten days, which thereby became 
wanting, among some of the other months ; and by this 
means the months became of their present length. As, how- 
ever, this year was still too short by about a quarter of a day, 
he provided for the deficiency by the insertion, every fourth 
year, of an extra day immediately after the 23rd of February, 
which was to be esteemed as a duplicate of the 24th of 
February, or, as the Romans called it, the sixth of the 
Calends of March. It is this double day which gave the name 
of " Bissextile" to the Leap year. The months, which had 



INTRODUCTION". Xlll 

previously been called Quintilis and Sextilis, then received the 
names of Julius and Augustus, in honour of the first two 
emperors. The Pontifices, soon after, mistook the proper 
method of intercalation, by making it every third year ; but 
Augustus finally corrected the results of this error by omitting 
the intercalary day during twelve years. 

The Romans did not, as we do, count the days of the month 
in a regular numerical succession, but reckoned them with 
reference to three principal points of time — the Calends, 
the Nones, and Ides. The first day of every month was 
entitled its Calends. In March, May, July, and October the 
Nones were the seventh, and the Ides the fifteenth of the 
month ; in all the other months the Nones were the fifth and 
the Ides the thirteenth ; and thus the Nones were always eight 
days before the Ides. After passing over one of these points, 
the Romans counted forward to the next, calling the day 
after the Calends so many days before the Nones, the day after 
the Nones so many days before the Ides, and the day after the 
Ides so many days before the Calends of the next month. The 
days were accordingly entitled with reference to the number 
backwards from each point to the preceding one ; thus the 
thirty-first of January was " Pridie Calendas Februarias," or 
"the day before the Calends of February;" the day before 
that was reckoned as the third day before the Calends of 
February (as the Romans included both extremes in counting), 
and was called "Tertio Calendas Februarias," or "Calendarum 
Februariarum," which we translate "the third of the Calends 
of February." though it really means " the third day before 
the Calends of February." Pursuing this mode of enumera- 
tion, we find the fourteenth of January (the day after the Ides) 
to be the nineteenth " before," or, as we say, " of the Calends of 
February." So the day before the Ides of January was 
" Pridie Idus Januarias," and so on backwards to the Nones, 
the day before which was " Pridie Nonas," and the day before 
that was " Tertio Nonas Januarias." It should be remembered 
that the space between the Nones and Ides w as the same in all 
the months ; while those between the Calends and Nones 
and the Ides and Calends varied. The Calends were 
originally the day of the new moon, which received its 
name from the fact that on that day the Pontifex addressed 
the moon in presence of the people, in the words " Calo te, 



XVI INTE0DXTCTI01S'. 

1. 165); a "lustrum" denotes only four years, and sometimes 
an indefinite number of years. Twenty-two "lustra" made 
a " seculum" of 110 years, the largest measure of time exist- 
ing among the Romans. 



ON THE RISING AND SETTING OF THE STARS. 

Befoee the age of Thales, the astronomer, only the settings 
and risings of the stars, as they were visible to the naked eye, 
were the subj eet of observation. Ever since that period, however, 
astronomers have divided these phenomena, with reference to 
the sun, into three classes. They are termed the cosmical, 
acronychal, and heliacal risings and settings. The cosmical 
rising or setting is the true one in the morning; the acronychal, 
the true one in the evening ; and the heliacal the apparent 
rising in the morning or setting in the evening. A star or 
Constellation is said to rise cosmically when it rises at the 
same time with the sun ; and to set cosmically, when it sets 
in the west, as the sun rises in the east. It rises or sets 
acronychally when it rises or sets at sunset. When it rises 
heliacally it emerges to the sight from the lustre of the sun's 
rays, where before it was hidden, and it arrives to such a distance 
from him as to be seen in the morning before the sun's rising ; 
and when it sets heliacally, approaching the sun, it is lost 
sight of in his superior brightness. The heliacal rising 
of a star takes place from twelve to fifteen days after the cos- 
mical rising, and the heliacal setting the same time before the 
acronychal setting. From the time of its heliacal setting to 
its heliacal rising, the star is over the horizon by daylight only, 
and is therefore invisible. 

Thus we find that there are three risings and as many 
settings of a star, two of each of which are real and one 
apparent, namely : — 

The true morning rising the cosmical. 

The apparent morning rising the heliacal. 

The true evening rising the acronychal. 

The true morning setting the cosmical. 

The apparent evening setting . . . : . the heliacal. 
The true evening setting ....... the acronychal. 



THE FASTI; 

OR, 

CALENDAR OF OVID. 



BOOK THE FIRST. 



CONTENTS. 



The nature of the subject, and the Dedication, ver. 1 — 26. The divi- 
sion of the year by Romulus and Numa, 27 — 44. The different quali- 
ties of the days, 45 — 62. The calends of January, the invocation of 
Janus, and a prayer that the author may commence auspiciously, 63 — 74. 
The consuls enter upon their office in an assemblage of the people , 75 — 
88. The mythology of Janus : who presents himself before the author 
with his badges of office, 89 — 99, and states, first, his origin, and the fact 
of his two-formed figure, 100 — 114; then, his duties and his various 
names derived therefrom, 115 — 132 ; then, the reasons for his peculiar 
form, 133 — 144. He next explains some matters relative to the calends 
of January ; why the new year begins in the middle of winter, and 
not in the spring, 145 — 164; why on that day causes are pleaded, 
165 — 170 ; why sacred rites are performed in his honour the first of all 
the Gods, 171 — 174 ; why words of good omen should be used, 175 — 
182 ; why presents are made at the beginning of the new year, 183 — 226 ; 
why the ancient coin bore the figures of a ship and a double-head, 
227 — 254 ; why he himself has his statue in one temple only, 255 — 
277 ; why his temple is open in time of war, 278 — 288. The author 
then proceeds to examine the calendar. The dedication of the two 
temples of iEsculapius and of Jupiter, 259 — 294. Before treating 
of the rising and setting of the constellations, he commences with the 
praises of those who cultivate the science of astronomy, 295 — 310. The 
setting of the Crab and the Lyre, 311 — 316. The origin and meaning 
of the Agonalia, 317 — 334. An inquiry into the meaning of the terms 
' Victima' and ' Hostia ;' the ancient sacred rites and origin of the 
sacrifice of animals, in which he introduces the story of Aristseus, 335— 
456. The rising of the Dolphin, 457 — 8. The middle day of winter, 
459 — 60. The Carmentalia, which introduces the arrival in Italy of 
Carmenta, Evander, and Hercules, together with the death of Cacus by 
Hercules, 461—586. The sacred ritea of Jupiter, 587—8. Octavius 

I * 



2 THE FASTI ; [b. i. 1—8. 

is graced with the title of ' Augustus/ the meaning * of which word 
he explains. 590 — 616. The return of the Carmentalia, on which 
Porrima and Postverta are propitiated, 617 — 636. The Temple 
of Concord rebuilt by Tiberius, to which Livia is a contributor, 
637 — 650. The Sun enters Aquarius ; the Lyre and the constel- 
lation of the Lion set, 651 — 656. The Sementive festivals ; cessation 
from field labour, the rural rejoicings thereupon, the prayers of the 
husbandman for good crops, and the great blessing of Peace, 657 — 704. 
The temple of Castor and Pollux dedicated by Tiberius, 705 — 708. The 
altar of Peace is erected. The poet concludes with a prayer for eternal 
peace, and for the house of Caesar, 709 — 726. 

The festivals, 1 arranged throughout the Latian year, 2 toge- 
ther with their origin and the constellations as they set 
beneath the earth and rise, I will celebrate. Receive, Caesar 
Germanicus, 3 this work with benignant aspect, and direct 
the course of my timid bark ; 4 and not disdaining a mark 
of attention thus slight, be propitious to this act of duty con- 
secrated to thee. Thou wilt here review the sacred rites 
brought to light from the ancient annals, 5 and see by what 
memorable fact each day has been distinguished. Here, too, 

1 The festivals."] — Ver. 1. Literally, ' The times/ as set out for ob- 
servance, and arranged for particular purposes. 

2 The Latian year.] — Ver. 1. The Latian year here spoken of was the 
Julian or solar year of 365 days and a quarter ; so called because insti- 
tuted by Julius Caesar. (See Introduction.) The month of January 
received its name from the god Janus, and has retained it from the 
days of Numa to the present time, with an interval only in the reign 
of the Emperor Commodus, who called it ' Amazonius,' in honour of his 
mistress ; but on his death the former name was restored by a decree of 
the senate. Latium was the name of that part of Italy in which Rome 
was situated. 

3 Ccesar Germanicus.] — Ver. 3. He was the son of Drusus Claudius 
Nero, and was adopted by his uncle Tiberius, at the express request of 
the Emperor Augustus. Drusus, the father of Germanicus having died 
shortly after his victory over the Germans, the senate conferred the title of 
Germanicus on his descendants. Germanicus died at an early age, and was 
the father of the Emperor Caligula. 

4 Timid bark.] — Ver. 4. Gower translates these lines in the following 
manner — 

* Germanic Caesar ! O ! accept our charge 
With smooth aspect, and guide my feeble barge/ 

Massey gives them in a single line — 

* Support Germanicus, my feeble wing. 

While the one caricatures the metaphor, the other abandons it altogether. 
6 Ancient annals.] — ■ Annalibus — priscis.' Ver. 7. The Roman annals 



B. I. S— 21.] OS, CALENDAR OF OVID. 3 

thou wilt find the household festivals peculiar to thy own 
faniily. 6 Often must thy sire, often thy grandsire, 7 become 
the subjects of thy perusal. The rewards of honour dis- 
tinguishing the painted calendar, 8 which they bear, thou, 
too, with thy brother Drusus, 9 shalt obtain. 10 Let others sing 
the arms of Caesar ; we will sing the altars 11 of Csesar, and 
those days which he has added 12 to the festivals. Do thou 
favour me while endeavouring to recount the praises of thy 
kindred, and dispel from my breast its trembling fears. Show 
thyself propitious to me ; then wilt thou have given me energy 
for my verses, for according to thy countenance does my 
genius stand or fall. My page, 13 about to be submitted to the 
judgment of a prince thus learned, is moved with awe, as 
though sent to the Clarian God 1 * to be perused. For we 

before the time of Ovid, were compiled by Hemina, Claudius, Afranius, 
Ennius, Attius, Quadrigarius, Piso, Fannius, Fenestella, Laberius, and 
Licinius. The principal annals were named ' Annales Maximi.' They 
were open to public inspection, and were kept by the Pontifex Maximus. 
At their discontinuance, in the time of Sylla, they amounted to eighty 
volumes. 

6 Thy own family.] — 'Vobis.' Ver. 9. Either the Claudii, his family 
by birth, or the Julii, his family by adoption. 

7 Thy grandsire.] — Ver. 10. Augustus, who had adopted Tiberius. 

8 The painted calendar.] — Ver. 11. 'Pictos Fastos.' The Roman books 
were often decorated with colours, especially red; whence our word 
' rubric.' These were most probably the ' Fasti Consulares,' kept in the 
temple of Janus, and not the ' Fasti Calendares/ which were originally only 
a calendar marking the days of religious observance. 

9 Drusus.] — Ver. 12. Drusus was the son of Tiberius, and the adoptive 
brother of Germanicus. The superior merits of the latter are supposed 
to have excited the jealousy of Tiberius, and to have caused his death by 
poison. 

10 Shalt obtain.] — Ver. 12. ' Feres/ Literally, ' shalt bear.' It was a 
high honour to be mentioned in the ' Fasti,' or annals ; and the erasure 
of a name from them was a mark of extreme degradation. 

11 Altars.] — Ver. 13. Built and consecrated by Augustus ; the passage 
most probably refers to the dedication by that Emperor of the altar of 
Concord. 

12 He has added.] — Ver. 14. Either by the revival of festivals ; or by 
the institution of them in honour of the gods or of himself. 

13 My page.] — Ver. 19. ' Pagina/ This word is very appropriate, 
as paged books had been recently introduced into common use by Julius 
Caesar, in substitution for those of the scroll form. , 

14 The Clarian God.]— Ver. 20. The oracle of the Clarian Apollo was at 
Claros, near Colophon, in Asia Minor. According to Tacitus, it was con- 
sulted by Germanicus, to which circumstance the poet probablv here alludes. 

B 2 



4 THE FASTI ; [ B . lm 21—35. 

have felt how great is the fluency of thy polished elo- 
quence, wh^n it bore civic arms 15 in behalf of the trembling 
accused. We know, too, when inclination has impelled thee 
towards our arts, 16 how copious the streams of thy genius 
now. If it is lawful and right, 37 do thou a poet guide 
the reins of a poet, so that under thy auspices the whole year 
may proceed favourably. 

When the founder 1S of the city divided the periods, he 
appointed that there should be twice five months in his 
year. In good truth, Romulus, thou wast better ac- 
quainted with arms than with the stars, and thy greater 
care was to conquer thy neighbours. Yet, Csesar, there is 
a reason which may have influenced him, and he has a ground 
on which he may defend his error. That period which is 
sufficient to elapse until the infant can come forth from 
the womb of its mother, he determined to be sufficient 19 for 
the year. During so many months after the funeral of her 
husband, does the wife keep up 20 the sad emblems of mourn- 

15 Civic arms.'] — Ver. 22. According to Suetonius and Dio Cassius, 
Germanicus had pleaded in public with considerable success; indeed, every 
young man of the patrician class who pretended to any talent pleaded for 
his friends. Gower translates these lines thus — 

1 For we did taste those sweets your lips let fall, 
When you did plead in causes criminall.' 

16 Our arts.] — Ver. 23. Germanicus made a Latin version of the astro- 
nomic poem of Aratus, which is still extant, and, according to Suetonius, 
he wrote several Greek comedies. 

17 Right.] — Ver. 25. ' Si licet et fas est/ This expression is strictly 
equivalent to, ' as far as consists with laws, human and divine,' or, ' with 
law and good conscience/ 

18 The founder.] — Ver. 26. Romulus. On the year of Romulus, see 
Introduction. 

19 To be sufficient.] — Ver. 34. That is to say, ten lunar months. 
Ovid is here in error ; as ten lunar months would be at least fourteen days 
less than the ten complete months of the original Roman year. 

20 Keep up.] — Ver. 36. ' Sustinet in vidua tristia signa domo/ 
* Sustinet' may mean either that she ' wears' the mourning garments, or 
that she ' keeps up' the emblems of mourning, such as the cypress branches 
hung up in the house, and exclusion from society. Numa regulated the time 
of mourning by the degree of kindred, and appointed to the widow the 
longest period, that of ten months, because that was the length of the 
original year, so that the poet has, in fact, here put the effect for the 
cause. Gower thus translates these lines — 

1 That time the widow, from the fatal burning 

Of her dead mate, did wear the signs of mourning/ 



B. l. 36—43.] OK, CALENDAR OF OYID. 5 

ing in her widowed home. This then the care of Quirinus, 
arrayed in the regal rohe, 21 regarded when he gave to the rude 
people 22 the ordinances pertaining to the year. 23 The first 
month was that of Mars ; 24 the second that of Venus ; she, the 
origin M of his family, he, the sire of Romulus himself. The 
third month was so called from the aged, 26 the fourth from 
the name of the young; 27 the rest that follow were denoted 
by their numerical place. 28 But Numa 29 passed by neither 

21 Clad in the regal robe.] — Ver. 37. * Trabeati/ Literally, ' clad in 
the trabea.' The ' trabea' was a ' toga/ or robe, ornamented with purple 
horizontal stripes, and was worn by kings, consuls, and augurs. It very 
probably derived its name from the bars, or stripes, ' trabes/ Servius 
(Comm.iEn. VII.,612) mentions three kinds — one wholly of purple, sacred 
to the gods ; another of purple and white ; and another of purple and red, 
or saffron, worn by the augurs. The purple and white was the royal robe, 
and is assigned especially to Romulus, who is supposed to have derived 
the use of it from the Latin kings. It was worn by the consuls on 
festivals and public solemnities, such, for instance, as the opening of the 
temple of Janus. The ' equites/ or equestrian order, wore it on public fes- 
tivals. The emperors, of whom Julius Caesar was the first who assumed it, 
wore it entirely of purple. 

22 Rude people.] — Ver. 38. 'Populis/ perhaps, means 'tribes/ or 
i clans/ not yet fused into one people. 

23 Pertaining to the year.] — Ver. 38. This may mean the rules and 
ordinances which were to be observed during the succeeding year till Ro- 
mulus again met his people, or the general regulations regarding the year, 
for future observance. The latter is the preferable sense. 

24 Of Mars.] — Ver. 39. The Roman year originally began in March. 

25 She, the origin.] — Ver. 40. Venus, the mother of iEneas, was the 
ancestress of Romulus ; Mars was his father. The poet here derives the 
name of March from ' Mars/ and the month of April (anciently written 
* Aphrilis') from ' Aphrodite/ the Greek name of Venus, and formed 
from a(f)pbg, ' sea-foam/ whence she is fabled to have sprung. He, per- 
haps, coined this very far-fetched derivation to please the Caesars, who 
were said to have sprung from Venus through iEneas. 

26 From the aged.] — Ver. 41. May — * Maius/ or < Majus/ as anciently 
spelt, he derives from ' the aged/ who were called ' majores natu.' ' More 
stricken, ' or ' greater in age/ would be the nearest literal translation. 

27 The name of the young.] — Ver. 41. June, * Junius/ he derives from 
the young, who were called ' juniores/ or ' juvenes/ 

28 Numerical place.] — Ver. 42. July, in the old year here spoken of, 
was ' Quintilis/ ' fifth month.' August was ' Sextilis/ ' sixth month/ and 
the names September, October, November, and December are respectively 
compounds of the numericals Septem, Octo, Novem, Decern, seven, eight, 
nine, and ten. 

29 Numa.]— Ver. 43. Numa Pompilius was a Sabine by birth, and the 



6 THE EASTI ; [b. i. 43-54. 

Janus nor the shades 29 of his ancestors, and added two to the 
ancient months. That, however, you may not be ignorant of 
the privileges 30 of the various days, every light-bearing day 31 has 
not the same office ; that will be inauspicious throughout which 
the three words 32 are not spoken, that auspicious throughout 
which it will be allowable for suits to. be pleaded by law. But do 
not suppose that its own privileges last throughout the whole 
day ; that which now will be auspicious, in the morning was 
inauspicious. For as soon as the entrails have been oiFered to 
the Deity, it is lawful to speak upon every subject, 33 and the 
Praetor, honoured by his office^ then has his decrees unob- 
structed. There is also the day on which it is the usage to 
shut the people within the polling inclosures 35 for the pur- 
poses of election. There is also the market day, 36 which always 

second king of Rome. He added two months, January and February, 
to the year of Romulus. 

29 The shades.] — Ver. 43. ' Avitas umbras.' This alludes to the 'feralia' 
or rites to appease the ' Manes,' or shades of the dead, described in the 
second book, ver. 533, and following. 

30 The privileges.] — Ver. 45. The ' Jura' were the distinctive rights 
or privileges given to certain days by public order. 

31 Light-bearing day.] — Ver. 46. 'Lucifer* is properly 'the morning 
star.' As introducing the day, it is here put for the day itself. 

32 The thr£e words.] — Ver. 47. On the subject of the ' auspicious and 
inauspicious days,' and the ' three words,' (' dies fasti ' and ' nefasti,' and 
the 'tria verba,') see Introduction. 

33 Speak upon every subject.] — Ver. 51. On this subject see Introduc- 
tion, in which reference is also made to the office of the Praetor, alluded 
to in the next line. 

34 Honoured by his office.] — Ver. 52. ' Honoratus,' ' Honored,' or, as 
we should say, ' Right worshipful, or right honourable,' This was the 
peculiar title of the ' Praetor Urbanus,' or city praetor. 

35 The polling inclosures.'] — Ver. 53. Allusion is here made to the 
1 Dies Comitialis,' or day of Comitia, for making laws and electing ma- 
gistrates. The ' Septum' was a boarded enclosure near the tribunal of 
the Consul, into which the ' centurii ' went in their proper order when 
summoned by the herald. There was a plank called ' pons,' f the bridge,' 
leading to the ' Septum,' over which each century passed in succession. 

36 The market day.] — Ver. 54. The ' Nundinae,' so called from 
' nonae' ' ninth,' ' dies' ' day,' returned every eighth day, according to our 
reckoning ; but, according to the Romans, who, in counting, included both 
extremes, every ninth day, whence the name. On this day the country- 
people came into the city to ,§£11 their wares, make their purchases, hear 
the new laws read, and learn the news. By the Hortensian law, the 
' Nundinae/ Cwhich before were only ' feriae/ or ' holidays,') were made 



b. I. 54—68.] Oil, CALENDAK OF OVID. 7 

returns after the ninth revolution. The care of Juno claims 
for itself the Ausonian 37 calends ; 3S on the ides, a white 
lamb, 39 of larger growth, falls in honour of Jupiter. The 
guardianship of the Nones is without the care of a Deity ; 40 
of all these (beware that you be not deceived) the morrow 
will be inauspicious. 41 The omen is derived from the event 
itself, 42 for on those days Rome sustained sad losses in adverse 
warfare. These circumstances, as being inherent to the whole 
of the festivals, will be here stated by me once for all, that I 
may not be forced to interrupt the order of the matters treated 
of by me. 

Lo, Germanicus ! Janus announces to thee a prosperous 
year, 43 and is present at the outset in my verse. 0, Janus, 
thou of the two heads ! origin of the year silently rolling on, 
thou who alone of the Gods above, dost behold thy own back, 
be thou propitious to our princes, 44 through whose toils both 

1 fasti/ or court days, that the country-people then in town might have 
their lawsuits determined. 

37 Ausonian.'] — Ver. 35. Ausoniawas properly the land of the Ausones, 
in the southern part of Italy ; hut the poets use it to signify the whole 
of Italy. 

38 Calends.] — Ver. 55. For an account of the Calends, Ides, and Nones, 
see Introduction. On all the Calends, the Pontifex minor and the Regina 
Sacrorum sacrificed to Juno. 

39 A white lamb.] — Ver. 56. A sacrifice of a lamb, called the ' ovis 
idulis,' was offered in the capitol to Jupiter, on the Ides of each month. 
On the Ides of January, the victim was always a wether. 

40 Is without the care of a Deity.] — Ver. 57. He means that on those 
days there are no sacrifices to any of the Gods. 

41 Will be inauspicious.] — Ver. 58. ' Ater,' literally ' black.' The 
epithet was perhaps derived from the custom of recording unlucky days 
by black marks set against them, as being ' carbone notandi,' ' to be 
marked in charcoal/ 

42 From the event itself.] — Ver. 59. The Romans had i prseliares' and 
' non praeliares,' ' fighting' and ' non-fighting' days. The days after the 
calends, nones, and ides, were ' non-praeliares/ as they believed that there 
was of necessity something unlucky in the idea of ' post,' after. So a 
public calamity on any particular day of a month rendered that day ' ater,' 
or ' nefastus,' in every month. Many of their most memorable defeats 
happened on the Nones, which thence derived their inauspicious cha- 
racter. 

43 Propitious year.] — Ver. 63. As we should say in the present day, 
4 wishes you a happy new year.* 

44 To our princes.] — Ver. 68. The princes here alluded to are probably 



8 THE FASTI ; [b. i. 68—79. 

the fertile earth and the sea enjoy undisturbed peace. Be thou, 
Quirinus, 45 propitious to thy senators, and to thy people, and 
by thy nod of approbation unlock the white temples. 46 A 
favourable day is dawning, be ye propitious both in your lan- 
guage 47 and in your feelings ; now on the auspicious day must 
auspicious language be used. Let our ears be relieved from 
strife, and forthwith let maddening discords be far away ; and 
thou envious tongue, postpone thy occupation. Do you perceive 
how the sky is gleaming with the perfume-bearing fires, 48 and 
how the Cilician ear 49 is crackling 50 on the kindled hearths ? The 
flame with its brightness irradiates the gold of the temples, and 
diffuses its tremulous beam throughout the highest part of the 
building. With unpolluted garments they go 51 to the Tarpeian 

Tiberius and Germanicus. He may perhaps allude to the victory of 
Germanicus over the Catti, Cherusci and other German tribes, a. u. c. 
770. 

45 O Quirinus.] — Ver. 69. The reading is 'Quirini/ but I have 
adopted Gierig's suggestion, 'Quirine.' The poet is addressing Janus, 
one of whose names was Quirinus, and would not ask him to ' be propitious 
to his own people.' Romulus also was called Quirinus, but it does not 
seem likely that allusion is here made to him. 

46 White temples."]— Ver. 70. Either white, as being built of marble, 
or whitened in appearance by the new white clothes of the worshippers. 
The temple of Janus only remained open during war ; but the poet must 
not be understood as wishing it to be opened for that reason ; but only 
that the gates of all the temples being open for sacrifice, the gate of that 
too might be opened for such a purpose. The Roman doors were fastened 
with a chain, at the end of which the i sera,' or bolt, was fixed. When 
the door was shut the bolt was fastened in the door-post ; when open it 
was drawn back. 

47 In your language."] — Ver. 71. 'Favete Unguis/ 'be propitious in 
your language/ was an usual injunction at sacrifices, as a word of ill omen 
spoken during their celebration on the calends of January, was considered 
to have an influence on the whole year. 

48 Perfume-hearing fires.] — Ver. 75. Frankincense, cinnamon, saffron, 
and cassia, used to be thrown on the altars during the time of sacrifice. 

49 The Cilician ear.] — Ver. 76. ' Spica Cilissa ' means the filaments of 
saffron from Mount Corycus, in Cilicia. 

50 Is crackling.] — Ver. 76. When the saffron was good, according to 
Pliny the Elder, it crackled while burning. Probably from this, as from 
the crackling of laurel (which was frequently burnt for the purpose), 
omens were derived 

51 .They go.] — Ver 79. On the calends of January the new consuls, 
accompanied by the senate and the people, went in procession to the 
Capitolium, to solicit the protection of Jupiter for the state. 



B. I. 79—92.] OK, CALENDAR OF OTID. 9 

heights, 52 and the people itself harmonizes by the colour of 
its dress with the festival. And now the new fasces 53 precede, 
the new purple 54 glistens, and the much distinguished chair of 
ivory 55 is sensible of new weights. The steers unacquainted with 
toil," which the Faliscan herbage has fed on its own fields, 
offer 56 their necks to the blow. Jupiter, when he looks from 
his height over the whole earth, has nothing which he can 
behold but that which is under Roman sway. Hail ! joyous 
day, and ever return more happy, worthy to be honoured 
by a people all-powerful throughout the world. But, O 
Janus, thou of the double form, what kind of deity shall 
I pronounce thee to be? for Greece has no divinity cor- 
responding to thee. 57 Do thou, at the same time, declare the 
reason why thou alone of all the inhabitants of heaven lookest 

52 The Tarpeian heights.'] — Yer. 79. The capitolian hill, on which the 
Capitol, or temple of Jupiter, was erected, was originally called ' Satur- 
nius,' in honour of Saturn, It was afterwards called ' Tarpeius,' from the 
vestal virgin Tarpeia. whose fate is narrated below, line 261, and was the 
quarter allotted to the Sabines after they were incorporated with the 
people. The ' arx/ properly speaking, was the highest of the Roman 
hills, and the inferior part of the declivity was the 'CapitoliunV or 'mons 
Tarpeius/ The latter name was more especially applied to a steep rock 
on one side, whence criminals were thrown, 

53 The new 'fasces.'] — Ver. 81. The 'fasces' were a bundle of rods 
tied together, with an axe inserted in the middle. They were borne by 
the lictors, as the insignia of the consular dignity. 

54 The new purple.] — Ver. 81. The ' prsetexta/ or consular robe. 

55 Chair of ivory.] — Ver. 82. The 'sella curulis,' w r as a seat inlaid 
with ivory, and at first used only by the kings, but afterwards by the 
consuls, praetors, censors, and the higher sediles, when employed in their 
official capacity. These officers were from this circumstance named 
1 curule/ The name of the chair was perhaps derived from its being 
carried on the ' currus/ or ' chariot/ to be at hand when required by the 
officer in his official capacity, either in the sena|^-house, or at the tribunal 
of justice. It was borrowed from the Tuscans, and was in the form of 
the letter X, for the convenience of folding up. 

56 Offer.] — Ver. 83. As though of their own accord; for if the victim 
struggled, it was not considered to be an appropriate offering to the god. 
The Falisci were a people of Etruria : the fertility of the soil rendered 
their pastures greatly esteemed, and victims for sacrifice were sought from 
their fields. Their country was also famous for a stream which imparted 
extreme whiteness to the oxen that drank of it, 

67 No divinity corresponding to thee.] — Ver. 90. Janus was probably 
the same deity as ' Dianus,' who represented the sun. If so, we must only 
understand by this, that the Greeks had no god corresponding to him in 
form and attributes. 



10 THE FASTI; [b. I. 92— 110. 

upon 58 that which is behind thee, and that which is before 
thee at the same time. While I was revolving these things 
in my mind, my tablets 59 being taken in hand, the house 
seemed to be brighter than it was before. Then the divine 
Janus, wondrous with his double form, suddenly presented 
his two-fold features to my eyes. I was struck with amaze- 
ment, and felt my hair stiffen with terror, and my breast was 
frozen with a sudden chill. He, holding in his right hand 
a staff, and in his left a key, 60 uttered these accents to me from 
the mouth of his front face, " Having laid aside thy terror, 
thou poet, labouring at the history of the days, learn what 
thou dost ask, and in thy mind understand my words. The 
ancients (for I am a being of the olden time) called me 
Chaos ; 61 — behold, of how remote a period I shall sing the 
transactions. This air, full of light, and the other three 
elementary bodies which remain, fire, the waters, and the 
earth, were one confused heap. When once this mass was 
broken up by the discord of its component parts, and, 
dissolving, passed away into new abodes, flame soared on 
high, the nearer place received the air, and the earth and sea 
settled in a middle position. Then I, who had been but a 

58 Thou lookest upon, #c] — Ver. 92, 93. Gower translates these lines, 

' Rehearse the reason why thou hast such odds, 
Of looking both ways more than all the gods.' 

59 My tablets.] — Ver. 93. The ' tabulse/ or ' tabellae/ were thin pieces 
of wood, usually of an oblong shape, covered over with wax, upon which 
the ancients wrote with the ' stylus/ or 'pen' of steel. 

60 In his left a key.'] — Ver. 99. The staft and key were the usual 
badges of office of the ' janitores,' or porters, among the Romans. Massey 
thus renders these lines — 

1 In his right hand a long battoon I see, 
And in hi0left he grasps a pond'rous key/ 

61 Called me Chaos.'] — Ver. 103. The name Chaos is derived either 
from x^ w > • to gape/ or %uo>, ' to pour/ By it was signified that con- 
fused heap of matter which the ancients in general believed to have existed 
from all eternity. Ovid, Metam. book i. ver. 6, 7, says, 

' Unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe 
Quern dixere Chaos : rudis indigestaque moles/ 

1 There was but one aspect of nature throughout the whole world, which 
they called chaos : an unwrought and crude mass/ This, in their idea, the 
supreme power reduced to the state of order and harmony which prevails 
in the visible world. 



B. I. Ill— 128.] OB, CALENDAR. OE OVID. 11 

mass and bulk without form, passed into a shape and limbs 
befitting a god. And even now, in me that part which is 
before, and that which is behind, appears to be the same, 
a slight mark of my former shapeless figure. Hear, too, 
what is another cause of the form thus inquired after by 
thee, that thou mayest at the same time learn this and 
my office. Whatever thou beholdest around thee, the sky, 
the sea, the air/ 2 the earth, all these have been shut up 
and are opened by my hand. In my power alone is the 
guardianship of the vast universe, and the prerogative of 
turning the hinge is entirely my own. When it has been my 
pleasure to send forth Peace 63 from her tranquil habitation, 
then at liberty she treads her paths unobstructed by the 
restraints of war. The whole world would be thrown into 
confusion in deadly bloodshed, did not my rigid bolts confine 
imprisoned warfare. Together with the gentle seasons 04 I pre- 
side over the portals of Heaven ; through my agency Jupiter 
himself doth pass 65 and repass. Thence am I called Janus, 66 
to whom, when the priest lays on the altar the offering cake 

62 l The air*"] — Ver. 117. ' Nubila' generally means 'clouds,' 'mist,' 
' cloudy sky.' Here, however, it means the 'air,' or 'aether.' 

63 To send forth Peace. ~\ — Ver. 121. He here personifies Peace and 
War, and represents them as committed to the custody of Janus. Some 
have supposed that the story of Janus is the corruption of a tradition that 
an Italian chief named Janus constructed doors and locks for the protec- 
tion of the person and of property, and that from him doors received the 
name of 'januae.' 

64 The gentle seasons.] — Ver. 125. The ' seasons/ or ' hours,' are men- 
tioned by Hesiod, Theog. 903, as three goddesses, the daughters of 
Jupiter or Zeus, and Themis. He calls them Eunomia (good order), 
Dike (justice), and Eirene (peace), and represents them as watching 
over the affairs of men. They appear to have been originally considered 
as the presidents of the three seasons, into which the ancient Greeks 
divided the year. The day being similarly divided, they were regarded as 
presiding over its parts also ; and, when it was afterwards divided into 
hours, these also were placed under their charge, and named from them. 
They presided over law, peace, and justice, and were the guardians of 
order and harmony among mankind. 

65 Jupiter himself doth pass.] — Ver. 126. It has been suggested, and 
with some probability, that allusion is here made to the etymology of his 
name, as Cicero derives the name ' Janus, or ' Eanus,' from ' Eundo,' the 
act of going or passing. — De Nat. Deor. Book 2. 

66 Thence am I called Janus.] — Ver. 127. Either from the root men- 
tioned in the last note, or from ' janua,' a 'door' or ' gate.' 



12 THE FASTI ; [ B . i. 128—141. 

of bread corn 67 and the spelt mixed with salt,— (thou wilt 
smile at my epithets,) for I, the same deity, am at one time 
called Patulcius, 68 and at another time Clusius, 69 by the 
lips of the sacrificer. In good truth, that rude anti- 
quity wished by the changes of my name to express my 
different duties. My power has now been related. Next 
learn the reason of my shape, although thou already per- 
ceivest it, in some degree, at least, from what I have already 
said. Every gate has two fronts, one on either side, of which 
the one looks out upon the people, but the othe* looks inward 
upon the household shrine; 70 and as the gate-keeper among 
you mortals, sitting near the threshold of the front of the 
building, sees both the goings out and the comings in, so do I, 
the door-keeper of the vestibule of heaven, at the same time 
look forth upon the regions of the east and the west. 71 Thou 
seeest the faces of Hecate 72 turned in three directions, that 

67 Cake of bread corn.]— Ver. 127, 128. l Libum Cereale.' Lite- 
rally, 'the cake pertaining to Ceres.' Ceres was the goddess of corn 
and husbandry, the daughter of Saturn and Ops, and the sister of Jupiter. 
She was especially worshipped in Sicily, and at Eleusis, in Attica, where 
the Eleusianian mysteries were celebrated. The ' libum,' or cake, here 
mentioned, was of a peculiar kind, offered exclusively to Janus, and thence 
called ' Janual.' The spelt, mixed with salt, was coarsely ground, and 
then strewed over the victim. 

68 Patulcius.] — Ver. 129. From the verb ' pateo, patere,' ' to he 
open.' 

69 At another time Clusius.] — Ver. 130. From the verb ' claudo, 
claudere, clausus,' ' to shut.' 

70 The household shrine.] — Ver. 136. Literally ' thelar,' or, (the plural 
being denoted by the singular), ' the lares.' It may either mean literally 
the spot in the house where the * lar,' or * household god, ' stood ; or, 
figuratively, ' the family,' as opposed to the ' populus,' the people, outside. 
These little idols were kept near the hearth, and in the i lararium' (here 
probably referred to,) which was a recess formed for that purpose, and 
in which prayers were offered up by the Romans on rising in the morning. 

71 East and the west.] — Ver. 140. ■ Eoas partes Hesperiasque.' Literally 
' the parts pertaining to the eastern star and the western star.' 

72 The faces of Hecate.] — Ver. 141. This goddess, who was the patro- 
ness of magic, is sometimes confounded with Diana. She was in- 
voked as potent to avert evil, and was regarded as a beneficent deity. 
Her triple statues were set up before houses and in places where three 
ways met ; hence the name * Trivia,' one of her titles. This office was 
conferred on her by reason of a tradition, that when an infant she was 
exposed by her mother at such a spot. According to Hesiod, in his 
Theogony, she was the daughter of Cceus and Phcebe. 



B> !. 141—166.] OK, CALENDAR OF OYID. 13 

slie may watch the cross roads where they are cut into three 
pathways ; to me, too, it is given, in order that I may not 
lose time in the bending of my neck, to look two ways without 
moving my body." He had said thus far, and by his coun- 
tenance acknowledged that he would not be difficult to be 
moved by me, if I wished to make further inquiries. I took 
courage, and, undismayed, gave thanks to the deity, and 
looking upon the ground, spoke a few words. " Say, now, 
I pray thee, why the new year begins with the frost of winter, 
which might better have been begun in the spring ? Then 
all things are blooming, then is the youthful season of the 
year, and the young bud is swelling from the teeming- 
shoot. Then the tree is covered with the newly formed 
leaves, the corn blade shoots from the seed to the surface of 
the ground; the birds, with their melodies, soothe the genial air, 
and the flocks gambol and disport in the meadows. Then is 
the sunshine refreshing ; and the stranger swallow 73 comes 
forth, and builds her fabric of clay beneath the lofty rafter. 
Then, too, is the field subjected to cultivation, 74 and re- 
newed by the plough. This, in justice, should have been 
called the opening of the year." I had made my inquiry in 
many words; he causing no delay by many, thus compressed 
his words into two hues. " The winter solstice 75 is the first day 
of the new, and the last of the old sun ; Phoebus 76 and the 
year take the same period for commencement." After these 
things I was wondering, and inquired why the first day was 
not exempt from the litigation of the courts P " Understand 

73 The stranger swallow.'] — Ver.157. The poet here refers to the martin 
or window swallow, which builds in the corner of windows, under roofs, or 
against rockyplaces, and returns year' after year to the situation it has once 
adopted, only repairing its nest. It mixes earth and straw, and after 
moistening it with its mouth, sticks it against the wall as a foundation 
for its nest. At noon it ceases work, that the portion built may dry by 
next morning, and in about a fortnight its nest is completed. 

74 Subjected to cultivation.]— Ver. 159. * Patitur,' literally ' suffers,' 
or l endures.' This term is appropriately used ; for the ground, before 
this period, has been so hard, that it would not, literally speaking, suffer 
or endure cultivation. Now, however, the crumbling soil is ready to admit 
the plough and spade. 

75 The winter solstice.] — Ver. 163. ' Bruma.' The winter solstice is 
the time when the sun has completed his progress northward on the 
ecliptic, and begins to return. 

78 Phoebus.]— Ver. 164. Phoebus, or i the shining/ was one of the 
titles of Apollo, the god of the sun. 

77 Litigation of the courts.]— Ver. 165. See Introduction. 



14 THE FASTI; [b. i. 166-181. 

the reason/' says Janus ; " I have assigned the very earliest 
hours of the year for the transaction of business, lest the 
whole year might be spent in idleness from a bad precedent. 
For the same reason, each person takes a slight taste of his 
calling by doing something on that day, but does no more 
than merely give evidence of his ordinary employment. 78 
After that I asked, "Why, although I am propitiating the 
power of other gods, do I, Janus, present the frankincense 
and the wine to thee, the first of all V s " That by means of 
me, 79 who guard the threshold, thou mayst have," says he, 
" access towards whatever deities thou mayst wish." "But why 
are congratulatory expressions 80 uttered in thy calends, and why 
do we then give and receive in return good wishes ?" Then 
the god, leaning on the staff which his right hand bore, an- 
swers, "Omens of the future are wont to be derived from 
beginnings. To the word first spoken, ye mortals, turn your 
timid ears : and the augur 81 observes the bird that is first 
seen by him. Then the temples and the ears of the gods 

78 Evidence of his ordinary employment.] — Ver. 170. It was usual with 
the Romans for all classes of people in the calends of January, as an omen 
of future prosperity and industry, and not for lucre, to practise a little at 
their respective callings. The mechanic did some trifling job, the farmer 
a little work in the fields, and the pleader exercised his lungs a little in 
the forum. 

79 By means of me.] — Ver. 173. Fabius Pictor, an ancient Roman his- 
torian, says that the reason was, because Janus first taught the Latins to 
use spelt, ' farra,' and wine in sacrifice. Macrobius says it was because 
he first erected temples to the gods in Italy. 

80 Congratulatory expressions.] — Ver. 175. It was the Roman custom 
on the calends of January to express good wishes and anxious prayers for 
the safety of friends. Our practice of wishing each other a happy new 
year, and the French custom of making presents on that day, are, no 
doubt, derived from this origin. 

81 The augur.] — Ver. 180. The augur, or diviner by birds, derived his 
name from ' avis,' a ' bird,' and ' gero,' to ' carry/ or from some unknown 
Etrurian origin. According to Plutarch, in his life of Romulus, they 
were anciently called ' auspices,' and are supposed to have been three in 
number, one for each tribe. They were confirmed in their office by 
Numa, and a fourth was afterwards added, probably by Servius Tullius, 
when he divided the city into four tribes. They derived the ' signa,' or 
* tokens of futurity,' from five sources — celestial phenomena, (such as 
thunder and lightning), — the singing and flight of birds, — the quantity eaten 
by the sacred chickens, — quadrupeds, — and from extraordinary accidents 
and casualties, called ' dirse, or ' dira.' Among the birds which gave omens 
by the voice, ' oscines,' were the raven, the crow, the cock, the owl, &c. 
Those giving omens by flight, ■ prsepetes,' were the eagle, vulture, &c. 



B. i. 181—195.] OR, CALENDAR OF OTTD. 15 

are open, no tongue utters unheeded prayers, and all that 
is said has its due weight." Janus had concluded, and I 
made no long silence, but with my words followed close 
on his last accents. "What means, 5 ' said I, "the palm- 
date, and the shrivelled dried fig, and the white honey given 
as a present, 82 in the snow-white jar? 5 ' 83 i( A fair omen," 
said he, " is the reason, that the like grateful flavour may 
attend upon our transactions, and that the year may in 
sweetness go through the course which it has begun. 55 " I 
see, 55 said I, "why sweets are given as presents: add the 
meaning of the little coin s4 also given, that no part of thy fes- 
tival may be imperfectly understood by me. 55 He smiled and 
said, " Oh ! how little are the habits of thy own times known 
to thee, who canst suppose that honey is sweeter than the 
acquisition of money. Scarcely did I see any one, even when 
Saturn reigned, S5 to whose spirit gain was not sweet. With 

82 Given as a present.] — Ver. 186. These new year's gifts were called 
' strenae.' They consisted of fruit, occasionally covered with gold-leaf, 
honey, and sometimes a trifling piece of coin. The fig derived its name 
' carica,' from Caria, now Anatolia, in Asia Minor. 

83 In the snow-white jar.] — Ver. 186. The best honey was white, 
and was especially given on this day in a white jar, as bearing the best 
omen. Honey was more frequently yellow, and the ' cadus,' or jar, of 
red earthenware, according to Martial, i. 56. 10. Pliny tells us that 
a white ' cadus ' was sometimes made from a kind of whitish stone. 
Gower renders these lines, 

1 What means dry figs and palrn-fruit I wot not, 
And honey offered in a fine white pot/ 

84 The little coin.] — Ver. 189. The 'stips' was a trifling coin of the 
smallest value, given frequently to beggars, and sent as a new year's 
present, merely by way of good omen, and not for any intrinsic value. The 
nominative ' stips' does not occur in any of the Latin classics. According 
to Suetonius, book v. ch. 42, Augustus condescended to take new year's 
gifts, and to receive the ' stips,' and in such quantities that his new year's 
presents must have been not only of good omen, but of great value. ' He 
proclaimed that he too at the beginning of the year would receive new 
year's gifts (strenae), and stood in the vestibule of the temples on the 
calends of January, to receive the coin (stipes), which a crowd of all 
classes showered before him from their hands and laps.' Queen Eliza- 
beth and James the First, and others of our sovereigns, expected a 
new year's gift (generally a piece of plate) from each member of the 
nobility, and gave a present in return, though the balance of gain was 
generally on the side of the sovereign. 

85 When Saturn reigned.] — Ver. 193. Saturn, the god of Time, was 
the son of Uranus and Terra, or Vesta. When dethroned by his son 



16 THE FASTI; [b. I. 195— 209. 

time, increased that love of acquiring, which is now at its 
height, and has scarcely a further point to which it can proceed. 
Wealth now is more valued than in the years of the olden 
time, while the people still were poor, while Rome was but 
newly built, while a little cottage received Quirinus, 86 the 
begotten of Mars, and the sedge of the stream afforded 
him a scanty couch. In those times scarcely could Jupi- 
ter stand at full length in his narrow temple, 87 and in 
his right hand was a thunderbolt of clay. 83 Then used 
they to adorn the capitol with boughs, which now they adorn 
with gems; 89 and the senator himself used to tend his own 
sheep. Nor was it then reckoned a disgrace to have enjoyed 
undisturbed slumber on the bed of straw, and to have heaped 
the hay as a pillow under one's head. The consul used to 
give laws to the people, the plough being but just laid 
aside, and the possession of a small ingot of silver was 
deemed a crime. 90 But after the Fortune of this place 

Jupiter, he fled into Italy, and gave name toLatium, because he was con- 
cealed there, from * lateo,' to lie hid. Janus, who was the king of Etruria 
at the time, received him hospitably, and Saturn afterwards reigned on 
the Latian side of the Tiber. Under Saturn was the golden age, which, 
as Janus here tells us, was not eutirely proof against the charms of lucre. 

86 Quirinus.] — "Ver. 199. This was a name of Romulus, as well as an 
epithet of Janus. According to Macrobius, in his Saturnalia, it was de- 
rived from the Sabine word * curis/ ' a spear,' and signified one skilled 
in the use of that weapon. 

87 In his narrow temple.] — Ver. 201. Either the temple of Jupiter 
Feretrius, built by Romulus on the Capitol, which was not sixteen feet 
long, or that built by Numa. However, the sitting posture was fre- 
quently assigned to the god by the taste of the artist, and the reverential 
feelings of the worshippers, a3 an attitude of repose and majestic dignity, 
irrespectively of the limits of the temple. 

88 A thunderbolt of clay,] — Ver. 202. ' Fictile/ of baked clay. In the 
early times the images of the gods were of baked clay. Tarquinius 
Priscus employed Etrurian artists to make a Jupiter of pottery for the 
Capitolium ; and the four-horse chariot, which was placed on the Capi- 
toline Temple when first built, was of baked clay. 

89 They adorn with gems.] — Ver. 203. Augustus, at one time, presented 
sixteen thousand pounds weight of gold and jewels of an enormous value 
to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. 

90 A crime.] — Ver. 208. There was an ancient law which pro- 
hibited the possession by the same person of more than five pounds of 
silver. Fahricius, the censor, in the year a.u.c 478, expelled from the 
senate Cornelius Kufinus, who had been dictator and twice consul, for 
having ten pounds' weight of silver plate in his possession. 



B.I. 209—224.] OB, CALENDAR OF OYID. 17 

raised on high her head, and Rome reached with her height 91 
to the gods above, both wealth increased and the maddening 
lust for wealth; and although men possess very much they still 
desire more. They struggle to acquire, in order that they may 
lavish ; and then to obtain again 9 - that which they have la- 
vished ; and the very changes, from wealth to poverty, afford 
nourishment to their vices. So with those whose stomach has 
swelled with the suffusion of water, the more that water that 
has been drunk, the more is it thirsted for. 93 Money now is 
the only thing prized ; 94 wealth 95 alone gives honours ; wealth 
gives friendships : the poor man every where lies prostrate. 
But thou askest me why the omen of the small coin is deemed 
desirable, and why the ancient pieces of brass 96 are welcome 
to our hands. In olden times they used to give pieces of 
brass ; at the present day there is a better omen in gold, and 
the ancient coinage beaten out of the field, yields to the 
new. Us deities, too, though we approve of the temples of 
ancient fashion, golden ones please right well ; that grandeur 

91 Reached with her height.'] — Ver. 209, 210. These two lines are thus 
translated by Gower : — 

1 But when proud fate this place's head had reared, 
And Rome's top-gallant near the gods appeared.' 

92 To obtain again.'] — Ver. 213. This reminds us of the old proverb, 
which tells greedy people that 'they cannot both eat their cake and have it.' 

93 Is thirsted for.] — Ver. 216. The common comparison of the state of 
the avaricious man to that of a person afflicted with the dropsy. 

94 Money now is the only thing prized.] — Ver. 217. 'In pretio pre- 
tium est,' equivalent to our common expression, ' Money only makes the 
man.' 

95 Wealth.] — Ver. 217. ' Census ' literally means the valuation on oath 
of the present value of one's possessions for the purposes of taxation — in 
fact, the Roman return for the income-tax. Hence it came to signify the 
property itself. Perhaps it might be rendered by ' the reputation of wealth.' 

96 Ancient pieces of brass.] — Ver. 220. The ancient pieces of brass 
were welcome to the hands of Romans, as commemorating the arrival of 
Saturn in Italy, by the prow of a ship on the reverse of the coin. These 
pieces were, doubtless, the large and heavy coins of copper, or rather, 
bronze, and hence termed the as or ass, which originally weighed 1 lb., 
but were gradually reduced till they scarcely exceeded 1 oz. in weight. 
The ases of the early kings are supposed to have consisted merely of square 
ingots of bronze of 1 lb. weight without impress, and Servius Tullius is 
stated by Pliny, to have first placed the impress of an ox on them. In 
the early times of the republic, they were coined in a circular form, with 
the types alluded to by Ovid. The heaviest that have reached us are about 
9| oz. in weight. These massive coins were distinguished by the Romans 
from the smaller and more modern money, by the title cera gravia, * heavy 

C 



18 THE PASTI; [b. i. 224—242. 

is suited to a divinity. We praise the olden times, but adopt 
the manners of our own day ; yet the habits of either age are 
equally worthy 97 to be adopted. He had finished his instruc- 
tions ; then once again, as before, in mild accents I thus ad- 
dressed the key-bearing god : — " Many things, indeed, I have 
learned, but why on the brass coin is there stamped on one side 
the figure of a ship, and on the other, a two-headed form ?" 9S 
"Thou mightst," said he, " recognise me in the two-fold form, 
had not the very length of time worn away the workmanship. 
The cause of the ship inscribed remains to be told. In a ship, 
the scythe-wielding God 99 having first wandered over the whole 
world, came up the Etrurian river. 1 I remember the reception 
of Saturn in this land ; he had been expelled by Jupiter from 
the realms of heaven. Thence for a long time did the name 
of Saturn 2 abide with that nation ; the country also was called 
Latium from the god being there latent. Moreover pious 
posterity preserved the ship upon the brass coin, attesting the 
arrival of the god, their guest. I myself inhabited the soil 
along which, on its left side, 3 glides the most gently flow- 
money/ The omen of the small coin, is, no doubt, an allusion to the silver 
and gold coins of a later period; the silver introduced, in 269 b.c, by- 
coined pieces called denarii (from being of the value of ten asses), and the 
gold, in 209 B.C., in pieces of twenty denarii. It is probable that, after 
these epochs, omens were sought in preference from coins of the more pre- 
cious metals. — See Bohn's Coin Collector's Guide. 

97 Equally worthy.'] — Ver. 226. As being the most suitable to the 
feelings, and the best adapted to the wants and comforts of the people of 
those respective times. 

98 A two-headed form.'] — Ver. 230. It has been stated in note 96, 
when coins with these types were probably first issued. They disappeared 
altogether towards the end of the republic, some of the last, with the an- 
cient types of the bifrontal head of Janus and the prow of a ship, being 
those issued by Pompey. In these, one of the profiles of Janus was made 
to represent Pompey himself, and the other Cneius, his father. Macrobius 
relates that the boys of ancient Rome played a game similar to our modern 
toss-halfpenny, crying l capita aut navim/ * heads or ship,' just as our 
boys do ' heads or tails/ — See Bohn's Coin Collector's Guide. 

99 Scythe -wielding.] — Ver. 234. Saturn is always represented with 
a scythe in his hand, as emblematical of the ruthless and unsparing 
power of Time. 

1 The Etrurian river.] — Ver. 234. The river Tiber, which flowed with 
Etruria on its left, and Latium on the right side, into the Etrurian sea. 

2 The name of Saturn.] — Ver. 237. ' Saturnia' was one of the old 
appellations of the Latian nation. 

3 Along whose left side.] — Ver. 242. The Etrurian bank of the Tiber, 
where the Janiculum was situated. 



B. I. 242—258.] OK, CALENDAR OP OYID. 19 

ing wave of the sandy Tiber. Here, where now Rome is, a 
forest, untouched by the axe, used to flourish, and Misstate so 
mighty was a place of pasturage for a few oxen. My place 
of retreat was that hill, which this age, paying me all adora- 
tion, denominates after my name, and calls it the Janiculum. 4 
Then, too, was I reigning, when the earth w r as fit to receive 
the gods, and the divinities were interspersed among the abodes 
of men. Not as yet had mortal crime 5 driven Justice away. 6 
She was the last of the deities that left the earth ; and instead 
of fear, a sense of propriety used then without any other 
restraint to govern the people : it was no difficulty to enforce 
justice among the just. I had no concern with warfare ; I 
used then to have but peace and the thresholds under my 
protection ; and/' shewing his key, ( ' these," says he, " are the 
arms which I properly bear." The god had closed his lips ; 
then thus I open mine, my words eliciting those of the divi- 
nity — " Since there are so many vaulted archways, 7 why dost 
thou stand consecrated by a statue in one alone, 8 here where 

4 The Janiculum.] — Ver. 246. The temple of Janus was built on the 
1 Janiculum/ one of the seven hills of Rome. In time a small town arose 
round it, until the whole was included in the immensity of the city of 
later times. From the dwellings of princes being in the early ages erected 
on the summit of a hill, which was called the ' arx,' the residence itself 
subsequently obtained the same title. So, too, the baronial castles of 
the feudal times were, perched on an eminence generally for the double 
purpose of overawing the vassals, and being prepared against a surprise by the 
enemy. In later times the Roman patricians had their palaces on the hills, 
and when they mingled with the plebeian crowd it was said of them that 

* descendebant,' ' they came down.' Thus, Horace Od. — ' descendat in 
campum petitor.' Our word ' descend ' has a similar meaning, adapted 
in a figurative sense from this latter use of the Latin word. 

5 Mortal crime.'] — Ver. 249. ' Facinus mortale ' may either signify 
i deadly crime,' or ' the crime of bloodshed,' or * crime committed by 
mortals.' 

6 Driven Justice away.] — Ver. 249. Her name was also Astra?a. 
Ovid in his Metamorphoses says, ' Ultima coelestum terras Astrsea reliquit,' 

* Astrsea was the last of the celestial deities to leave the earth.' 

7 Vaulted archways.] — Ver. 257. * Jani,' covered passages, having 
a look-out on either side, were so called from Janus. The poet asks 
the deity why he is honoured with a statue in only one 'janus,' or 
arched temple, when there are so many places in Rome named after him. 
These passages were always double, for the convenience of people passing 
both ways. 

8 In one alone.]—Ver. 257. According to Varro, this temple was the 
1 porta Janualis,' or ' gate of Janus,' built by Romulus. Numa placed a 
statue of Janus in the temple, which was live cubits in height. 

c2 



20 THE FASTI ; [b. I. 258—277. 

thou hast a shrine adjoining to the two market places. 9 He, 
with his hand stroking the beard that flowed down upon his 
breast, forthwith related the warfare of the (Ebalian Tatius, 10 
and how the faithless guard, 11 captivated with the Sabine brace- 
lets, conducted Tatius to the approaches of the lofty citadel. 
" From that," said he, " there was, as there is now, a steep 
path by which you descend to the vallies and the market 
places. And now had he reached the gate 12 whose resisting 
bolts Juno the daughter of Saturn had insidiously removed : 
when fearing to enter on a contest with a deity so power- 
ful, I slily put in practice the resources of my peculiar 
art. 13 I opened the mouths of the fountains, in which kind 
of aid I am distinguished, and I showered forth sudden streams 
of water. But first I mingled sulphur in the hot streamlets, 
that the boiling flood might obstruct the passage of Tatius. 
When the useful quality of this stream, after the repulse of 
the Sabines, was perceived, and the appearance which it 
formerly had was restored to the place now secure from the 
enemy, an altar was erected to me, united with a little 
chapel : this with its flames consumes the spelt meal with the 
salt and flour cake of sacrifice '." u "But why dost thou lie 

9 The two market-places.'] — Ver. 258. These were the t Boarium,' or 
ox-market, and the 'Piscarium/ or fish-market. 

10 The (Ebalian Tatius.'] — Ver. 260. (Ebalus was a Spartan prince, 
the grandfather of Helen. The Sabines, who are here alluded to, were 
reputed to have been a Spartan colony. Titus Tatius was the king of the 
Sabines in their wars Tvith Romulus. 

11 The faithless guard.] — Ver. 261. Tarpeia, the daughter of Tarpeius, 
agreed to betray the Roman citadel (of which her father was the com- 
mander) for the golden bracelets worn by the Sabine warriors. When she 
had fulfilled her promise, she received the just reward of her treachery, for 
each soldier, as he gave his bracelet, threw also his shield upon her, and she 
was soon crushed to death by the weight. This circumstance is comme- 
morated on a denarius of the family. 

12 Reached the gate.] — Ver. 265. It was the 'Porta viminahV that 
Juno on this occasion opened for the admission of the Sabines. It 
was so called from the quantity of osiers, ' vimina,' that grew in the 
neighbourhood. 

16 My peculiar art.] — Ver. 268. That is, of opening, suited to my 
guardianship of all entrances and exits. These two lines are translated by 
Gower : — 

1 1, loth to thwart it with so high a power, 
Did slily help them with a feat of our/ 
u Cake of sacrifice.] — Ver. 276. These were small calces made in the 
shape of fingers joined together, and laid in heaps for tjie purposes of 
sacrifice, whence the name * strues/ from ' struo,' ' to build,' or ' pile up.' 



B. I. 277—301.] OS, CALEXDAS OF OVID. 21 

concealed 15 in time of peace, and why art thou revealed, 
when arms are taken up '?" There was no delay, the cause 
of the circumstance inquired after was told me in answer. 
" In order that the means of returning may he open in readi- 
ness for the people when they have gone forth to war, the whole 
of my gate stands wide open, the IWt being removed. In 
times of peace I bar my doors, that she may by no means be 
enabled to depart; and under the sivay of Ceesar's name long 
shall I remain shut up." He spoke, and raising his eyes that 
looked both before and behind, he looked upon whatever 
there was in the whole world. There was peace : and the 
Rhine, 16 the occasion of thy triumph, Germanicus, had now 
surrendered to thee its subservient streams. Janus, make 
peace everlasting, and them to be the ministers l7 of peace, and 
grant that the author of this change may not abandon his office. 
But, as I was enabled to learn from the list of the festivals, 
on this day our forefathers consecrated two temples. 18 The 
sacred Island which the river surrounds with its divided 
stream, received the son of Phoebus and the nymph Coronis. 19 
Jupiter occupies a share ; one place received them both, and the 
temple of the grandson is joined to that of his mighty grandsire. 
What forbids me, also, to mention the stars, how each 
of them rises and sets ? That, too, was a part of my 
promised undertaking. Blessed spirits ioere they to whom 
first it was a care to learn these things, and to ascend 
to the mansions on high. It is worthy of belief that they 
raised their heads equally above the vices and the haunts 
of mortals. Neither lust nor wine enfeebled their exalted 

15 Lie concealed.'] — Ver. 277. Alluding to the closing of the temple 
of Janus in time of peace, and the opening of it in time of war. 

16 The Rhine.] — Ver. 286. He alludes to the triumph of Germanicus 
over the Catti, Cherusci, and Angrivarii, a.u.c. 770. 

17 The ministers.] — Ver. 287. Tiberius and Germanicus. 

18 Two temples.] — Ver. 290. One to Jupiter, consecrated by Caius 
Servilius, and the other dedicated to iEsculapius, the son of Apollo. 

19 The nymph Coronis.] — Ver. 291. ^Esculapius was the son of 
Apollo and Coronis, the daughter of Phlegias and Leucippus. She was 
slain in a fit of jealousy by Apollo, who gave iEsculapius into the charge 
of the centaur Chiron; he instructed his charge in the art of medicine, of 
which he afterwards became the tutelar divinity. In consequence of a 
plague at Rome, an embassy was sent to Epidaurus, in Peloponnesus, 
where iEsculapius was worshipped, and one of the serpents sacred to him 
was brought to Rome, on which the temple mentioned by the poet was 
built to the god on the ' sacred Isle' in the Tiber.' 



22 THE FASTI ; [b. i. 301—319. 

minds, nor the duties of the Forum, nor the toils of warfare. 
Nor did giddy ambition, nor glory overspread with artificial 
glare, 20 nor the craving for vast riches, disquiet them. It 
is they who have brought the far distant stars to our eyes, and 
have subjected the heavens to their intellect. Thus is heaven 
won, not that Olympus for that purpose should bear Ossa, 21 
and the peak of Pelion touch the loftiest stars. We, too, 
under the guidance of these, will apportion out the skies, 
and will assign their own peculiar days according to the ap- 
pointed constellations. "When, therefore, the third night before 
the approaching nones shall come, and the ground shall grow 
damp, besprinkled with the dew of heaven, in vain will the 
claws of the eight-footed Crab 22 be sought for ; he has sunk 
headlong beneath the western waters. When the nones are 
just arriving, the showers issuing from the black clouds will 
give you indications as the Lyre rises. 23 

Add four days passed in regular succession, to the nones, 
Janus will have to be appeased on the Agonalian day. 24 The 
aproned priest 25 may perhaps be the origin of the appel- 

20 Artificial glare."] — Ver. 303. 'Fucus' is, literally, a marine shrub, 
or sea- weed, red alkanet, which was used for the purposes of dyeing and 
painting. 

21 Should bear Ossa.] — Ver. 307. Ossa (now Kissova), Pelion (now 
Plesnid), and Olympus which is still called by its ancient name, were high 
mountains in Thessaly. He alludes to the attempt by the giants Otus 
and Ephialtes, sons of Neptune and Iphimedeia, to scale heaven when they 
were but nine years old, by heaping the mountains one upon the other. 

22 The eight-footed crab.'] — Ver. 313. Because on the third day of 
January, at sun-rise, is the acronychal setting of the constellation Cancer, 
the Crab. In the mythology, it is said to have been placed among the 
constellations by Juno, after it had been crushed by the foot of Hercules, 
which it had bitten while the hero was engaged in combat with the 
Hydra in the Lernsean marsh. 

23 The Lyre rises.] — Ver. 316. The cosmical rising of Lyra, usually 
accompanied with rain. This is feigned to be the lyre on which Orpheus 
played when he descended to the infernal regions. 

24 The Agonalian day.] — Ver. 318. The festival of Janus called ' Ago- 
nalia,' or 'Agonic;' the meaning of which name the poet proceeds to 
describe. 

25 The aproned priest.] — Ver. 319. The ' minister* here mentioned 
was the l rex sacrorum,' or ' king of the sacrifices,' who was in religious 
matters the representative of the ancient kings ; higher in rank than the 
1 pontifex maximus,' but inferior in power and influence. His duties 
were, to perform sacrifice, to propitiate the deities, and to proclaim the 
festivals. While sacrificing, the priests and their assistants used to wear 
small aprons. 



b. i. 319—338.] OB, CALENDAR OF OTID. 23 

Lition, under the blow of whom the victim falls in honour 
of the celestial gods ; for he, when about to stain with 
reeking gore the knives already unsheathed, always asks 
the question, " Do I proceed?" 26 Nor does he proceed 
unless commanded so to do. Some think that the day has 
the name of Agonal, from the act of driving, because the 
sheep do not come of their own free will to the sacrifice, but are 
driven. 27 Some think that this festival was called " Agnalia" 28 
by the ancients, although by that derivation one letter is re* 
moved from its proper place ; or is that day thus named 
from the agony of the sheep, 29 because the victim shud- 
ders at the knives perceived by it as they lie in the water? 30 
Some, too, think that the day derived a Grecian epithet 
from the games 31 that were wont to be celebrated in the 
time of our forefathers. The ancient dialect, too, called 
sheep by the name of " Agonia ;" and in my opinion the last 
is the true reason for the name, and to this extent that reason is 
ascertained for certain, that the king of the sacred rites is in 
duty bound to propitiate the divinities with the mate of the 
fleece-bearing ewe. That sacrifice which has fallen by the 
right hand of the victor is called the victim : 32 when the hostile 
troops are driven far away then the sacrifice is called the host. 34 
In days of old, it was plain spelt, and the sparkling grain 35 of 

26 Do I proceed ?] — Ver. 322. Ago ne. Two Latin words, forming a 
trisyllable, and signifying ' do I ?' or * am I to proceed V 

27 Are driven.] — Ver. 323. l Agor' is ' to be driven/ whence this fanci- 
ful derivation. 

23 Agnalia,] — Ver. 325. From * Agnus,' l a lamb/ as sheep were then 
sacrificed. 

29 Agony of the sheep.] — Ver. 327. 'Aywvia, (agonia), the Greek for 
* terror/ whence our word ' agony ;' implying pain, and, in this instance, 
1 extreme horror.' 

30 In the water.'] — Ver. 327. The knives placed in basins of water, 
near the altar, for the purposes of ablution. 

31 From the games.] — Ver. 330. 'Ayai^fc, ' agones/ is the Greek term 
for public games or contests. 

33 Is called the victim.] — Ver. 335. So called, according to the poet, 
as being the offering sacrificed by him who is the ' victor/ or conquering 
party, deriving its name from ' vinco/ ' to conquer.' 

34 The host.]— Ver. 336. The sacrifice is so called, according to the 
poet, when it is offered on the retreat of the enemy ; as it would appear, in 
contradistinction to his death ; ' hostis' being the Latin word for ' enemy,' 

35 Sparkling grain.]— Ver. 338. Salt was held in high esteem by the 
ancients. The lares and the salt-cellars were with equal care placed on 



24 THE FASTI ; [b. i. 338— 359. 

unadulterated salt that had efficacy to render the gods pro- 
pitious to man. Not yet had the stranger ship, impelled 
through the waters of the ocean, imported the myrrh 36 that is 
distilled from the bark in tear-like drops. In those days 
neither Euphrates had sent its frankincense, 37 nor India its 
zedoary, 88 nor were the filaments of the ruddy crocus then 
known. The altar used to send forth its smoke, contented 
with the Sabine herbs, 39 and the laurel was burned with no 
small crackling noise. If there was any one who could add 
violets to the chaplets wrought from the flowers of the mea- 
dow, that person was a rich man. The knife of the present 
day, which opens the entrails of the stricken bull, had in 
those times no employment in the sacred rites. Ceres 40 was 
the first who took pleasure in the blood of an animal — namely, 
the ravenous sow, avenging the injury done to her property 
by the merited death of the transgressor. For in the early part 
of the spring she found that the crops of corn, swelling with 
their young milky juice, were rooted up by the snout of the 
bristly swine. From that day the swine paid the penalty. 
You, he-goat, warned by her example, wish that you had ab- 
stained from the shoot of the vine. A person looking upon 
him while imprinting his teeth upon the vine would naturally 
utter some such expression as this, with no silent indignation. 
' Welly gnaw away at the vine, Master goat ; there will still be 
enough juice in it to be sprinkled upon your horns, when you 
shall be standing a victim at the altar.' Truth attends 

their tables. The family salt-cellar was an heir-loom, preserved with the 
greatest care. Horace, Odes, book 2, Ode 1 6, mentions the salinum. 

36 Imported the myrrh.'] — Ver. 339. The myrrh is a shrub that either, 
with or without an incision in the bark, distils a sweet gum in tear-like 
drops. 

37 Frankincense.'] — Ver. 341. This was a perfume which was imported 
into Europe from Arabia. 

33 Its zedoary.] — Ver. 341. * Costum' was a shrub growing in 
Palestine and Syria, and prized for its powerful aromatic smell. The 
Euphrates, running through Mesopotamia and the northern part of 
Arabia into the Persian Gulf, bore thither for the use of the western world 
the riches and spices of the east. 

39 The Sabine herbs.] — Ver. 343. This was the savin, a herb resembling 
the cypress. Pliny, Nat. Hist, book 24, mentions the occasional use of 
it in the place of frankincense. 

40 Ceres.] — Ver. 349. For some account of this goddess see note on 
line 127 of "this book. 



B. I. 359—378.] OE, CALERDAE, OF OYID. 25 

his words. Bacchus/ 1 thy foe given up to thee for punish- 
ment, has his horns sprinkled with the outpoured wine. 42 
Her guilt was fatal to the sow — fatal, too, was his guilt to 
the goat. But what didst thou, ox, and what did ye, 
gentle sheep, to deserve a like fate ? 

Aristseus 43 was weeping, because he had seen that his bees, 
destroyed together with their progeny, had deserted the 
unfinished honeycombs. Him, then, while grieving, his 
Caerulean mother 44 with difficulty consoled, and added to what 
she had said these last words : " Cease thy tears, my son, 
Proteus 45 will alleviate thy losses, and will teach thee in what 
manner thou mayst recover what has been lost. That however, 
he may not deceive thee by his transformations, let strong 
fetters bind both his hands." 46 The youth comes to the prophet, 
and seizing the arms relaxed in sleep of the watery sire, binds 
them together. He, versatile in form, by his peculiar art changes 
his appearance, but afterwards, overcome by the fetters, he 
returns to his natural shape, and, raising his countenance all 
streaming, with his azure-coloured beard, he said, " Dost thou 
seek to know by what art thou mayst recover thy bees ? Bury in 
the earth the carcase of a slaughtered ox : he, when so buried, 

41 Bacchus.] — Ver. 360, The god of wine and revelry. He was the 
son of Jupiter and Semele. 

42 The out-poured wine.'] — Ver. 360. Alluding to the pouring the wine 
between the horns of the victim before it was slain. 

43 Anstceus.]— Ver. 363. He was son of Apollo and the nymph 
Cyrene, and followed the occupation of a shepherd, according to Virgil, 
who, in the fourth book of his Georgics, relates this story at much greater 
length, and in more poetical language. 

44 His Caerulean mother.] — Ver. 365. Or 'of azure/ or 'light blue 
colour,' Cyrene being a nymph of the waters ; she was daughter of the 
river Peneius, and is said by Pindar to have given name to the town of 
Cyrene, in Africa. — Pythia Ode 9. 

45 Proteus.] — Ver. 367. He was a deity of the sea, son of Oceanus 
and Tethys, or, according to some writers, of Neptune and Phcenice. 
Neptune bestowed on him, as the keeper of the ocean monsters, the gift 
of prophecy. He resided chiefly in the Carpathian Sea, and on the coast 
of Egypt. When reposing on the shore, he was much resorted to by 
persons wishing to test his prophetic powers. Menelaus and Hercules are 
said to have consulted him. 

46 Bind both his hands.]— Ver. 369, 370. Go wer translates these lines— 

' But bind him sure, in fetters strong, lest he 
With his transformed shapes, should coosen thee.' 



26 THE FASTI; [b. i. 378—391. 

will supply what tliou now askest of me." The shepherd 
performs his commands. The swarms throng from the pu- 
trefying ox. The death of a single being has produced a 
thousand new lives. Fate, too, demands the sheep. She 
m her impiety once cropped the sacred plants, 47 which a 
pious old dame was accustomed to offer to the rustic 
deities. What remains in safety, when both the sheep that 
bear the fleece, and the oxen that till the fields, resign 
their lives upon the altars ? Persia propitiates by the sacrifice 
of the horse, Hyperion 48 begirt with rays of light, that no 
sluggish victim may be offered to the swift god. Because the 
hind was once slain in honour of the triune Diana 49 in the 
stead of a virgin, 50 at the present day she is sacrificed though 
not in the stead of a virgin. I have seen the Sapaeans 51 
and him who dwells near thy snows, Heemus, offer to 
Trivia the entrails of dogs. 

The ass too is slain for the lustful guardian 52 of the fields. 

47 The sacred plants.'] — Ver. 381. ' Verbense' here means the several 
plants used in sacrifice, such as the laurel, olive, myrtle, cypress, tamarisk, 
and rose. In the sacred rites they were either used as garlands for the 
head, or were borne in the hands of suppliants, or were laid on the altars. 
Some legend is probably here referred to, the particulars of which have 
not come down to us. 

48 Hyperion.'] — Ver. 385. A title of the sun among the Greeks. The 
Persians worshipped him by the name of Mithras. According to some 
mythologists, Hyperion was the son of Uranus and Terra (heaven and 
earth), and father of the sun and moon and of Aurora, the goddess of the 
morning. 

49 Diana.'] — Ver. 387. See note to line 141, above. 

50 In the stead of a virgin.] — Ver. 387. This was Iphigenia, the 
daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. The Greeks, when going 
to Troy, were detained at Aulis by contrary winds. Chalcas declared 
that this was through the anger of Diana at the loss of a favourite stag, 
killed by Agamemnon ; but that the goddess would be appeased by the 
death of the daughter of the offender. When about to be sacrificed, she 
disappeared, and a goat or a hind was substituted for her, though accord- 
ing to some accounts she really was slain. 

51 The Sapcsans.] — Ver. 389. A people of Thrace, probably visited 
by the poet when an exile in that country. Dogs were sacrificed to 
Diana, because by their barking they scared away the spectres which she 
summoned to earth. These sacrifices took place at Zerinthus, near mount 
Hsemus, in Thrace. 

62 Lustful guardian.] — Ver. 391. Priapus, an obscene god, was the 
son of Venus and Bacchus (a befitting parentage), and was principally 



B. I. 391—411.] OK, CALEXDAK OP OVID. 27 

The reason is indeed one that must cause shame, but quite 
suited to the character of this divinity. Greece was celebrat- 
ing the festivals of ivy-crowned Bacchus, which every third 
winter brings round 53 at the established period. The guardian 
deities of cool Lycseum* 4 came thither, and any one besides that 
was no enemy to mirth ; the Pans, and the youthful troop 
of Satyrs prone to lust, and the goddesses 55 who inhabit the 
streams and lonely fields. The aged Silenus 56 too, had ar- 
rived upon his ass with bending back, and Priapus, who with 
ruddy aspect scares away the timorous birds. They, having 
found a grove well suited for their merry carousals, reclined 
on the couches bestrewed with grass. Bacchus gave the 
wine ; each had brought a chapiet for himself ; a rivulet 
rolled by its waters, to be but sparingly mixed. 57 The Naiad 
nymphs were there, some with locks dishevelled without the 
application of the comb, others with their hair arranged both 
with taste and labour. This one waits upon them with her 
robe gathered up 53 above the middle of the leg, another exposed 
as to her breast, with the bosom of her dress slashed asunder. 
This one bares her shoulder, another sweeps her robe along 
the grass — no sandals confine their delicate feet. On this 
side some are kindling the gentle flames of desire in the Satyrs, 

worshipped at Lampsacus in Mysia, on the Hellespont. He presided 
over fields and gardens, which he protected from thieves and blight. 

53 Brings round.'] — Ver. 394. This was the ' Trieterica,' or ' three-year 
feast.' It was really an annual festival, but was celebrated with greater 
solemnity every third year, to commemorate the expedition of Bacchus 
into India. Probably the year alluded to in the poem was the ancient one 
of four months only. 

54 Cool Lycceum.~] — Ver. 395. A mountain in Arcadia sacred to Pan 
and Jupiter. The gods mentioned were the several Pans, fawns, and 
satyrs, the deities of Arcadia. 

55 The goddesses.] — Ver. 398. The Naiads, or water-nymphs. 

55 Silenus.] — Ver. 399. He was the foster-father of Bacchus, and, 
according to Pindar, was born at Malea, in Lesbos. He had a bald head, 
flat nose, and thick beard. He was the leader of the Satyrs, and was 
always drunk ; yet, singularly enough, he was considered as conspicuous 
for his wisdom. 

57 Sparingly mixed.] — Ver. 404. Moderate drinkers mixed three parts 
of water with two of wine ; but the present company preferred their liquors 
neat, or nearly so. Perhaps the ladies formed the exception. 

58 Robe gathered up.] — Ver. 407. The female tunic reached the 
ancles ; but when expedition was required, it was tucked up as far as the 
mid-leg. 



28 THE FASTI; [b. i. 411—444. 

some in thee who hast thy temples wreathed with pine. 59 Thee 
too, Silenus, of lust inextinguishable, they inflame. It k 
lust alone that precludes thee from being aged. But the 
ruddy Priapus, the deity and guardian of the gardens, was 
charmed by Lotis above them all. Her he desires — her he 
longs after — for her alone he sighs ; he signifies his wishes 
by his nods, 60 and entreats her by signs. Cold disdain is 
innate in the fair, and haughtiness accompanies beauty. By 
her countenance, she despises and she scorns 01 him. 

It was night, and, wine producing slumber, their bodies lay 
overpowered by drowsiness, in various places. Lotis, as she 
was wearied with sport, lay, the most remote of all, on the 
grassy earth, beneath the overshadowing boughs of a maple. 
Her lover rises, and, holding his breath, stealthily advances his 
silent footsteps, treading on tiptoe. When now he had reached 
the sequestered resting place of the nymph, fair as snow, 
he takes care lest the very drawing of his breath should make 
a noise. And now was he poising his body on the grass close 
by her, yet still was she sunk in deep sleep. He is overjoyed, 
and drawing aside her garment from her feet, began to pro- 
ceed along the blissful path to the accomplishment of his de- 
sires. When, lo! braying with hoarse throat, the ass that bore 
Silenus sent forth unseasonable sounds. Alarmed, the nymph 
starts up, and with her hands flings back Priapus, and then fly- 
ing 62 arouses the whole grove. The god, already too well prepared 
for his lustful attempt, was an object of ridicule to all by the 
light of the moon. The author of the outcry paid the penalty 
by death, and hence is an acceptable victim to the god of 
the Hellespont. You, ye birds, charmers of the fields, a race 
accustomed to the groves, and guiltless, had been as yet un- 
harmed ; you, who build your nests, who cherish your eggs 

59 With pine.~\— Ver. 412, i. e. Pan. 

60 By his nods. ,] — Ver. 417, 4] 8. These lines remind ns of those of 
Milton, in L'AUegro : — 

* Quips and cranks, and wanton vales ; 
Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles/ 

61 And sneers."] — Ver. 420. As we should say in common parlance, 
* She turns up her nose at him.' 

62 Then flying .] — Ver. 436. The gods, in compassion for this gross 
attempt on the nymph, changed her into the lotus tree. 



B . u 44jt_45S.] OB, CALEKPAB OF OVID. 29 

with your plumage, and warble delightful strains from your 
ready throats. But these things avail you nothing, because 
you are accused of the power of utterance, and the gods 
believe that you disclose their purposes. And this charge not 
entirely groundless ; for, as each is most familiar with the 
gods, at one time, by your wings, at another, by your voices, 
you give true indications. 62 * The race of the fowls, for so long 
a time secure, at length came to be slain in its turn, and the 
entrails of the informer against them then delighted the gods. 
For that reason, often is the white ring-dove, the consort, 
torn from her mate, burned on the glowing hearths. Nor 
does the defence of the capitol 03 avail, to prevent the goose 
from affording its liver for thy dishes, dainty daughter of 
Inachus. 6i On the night of this day, the crested bird is slain 
in honour of the goddess Night, C5 because with watchful throat 
he calls forth the warm day. In . the mean time the Dol- 
phin, 66 a bright constellation, rises over the deep, and puts 
forth his head from his native waters. 

62 * True indications.'] — Ver. 447. The poet refers to the omens obtained 
from the flight and voices of birds. 

63 Defence of the capitol.'] — Ver. 453. The city of Rome being taken, 
by the Gauls, Marcus Manlius, with a body of men, retired into the 
capitol, which during the night was attacked by the enemy. Their ap- 
proach was discovered in time, through the cackling of some geese that 
were kept in the temple of Juno, and from that time geese were held 
sacred with the Romans. 

64 Daughter of Inachus.] — Ver. 453, 454. Inachis, supposed to have 
been the same with lo, daughter of Inachus, the river god. From the 
epicurean taste which she is here represented as indulging, she would 
probably have been more than usually pleased by a taste of the * pate de 
foies gras* of the present day. Ciower translates these lines thus, 

■ Nor can the guarded capitol release 
The goose's liver from choice Inach's mess/ 

65 Goddess Night J] — Ver. 455. ' Nox,' 'Night/ was one of the most 
ancient deities, being a daughter of Chaos. By her brother Erebus she 
produced the Day and the Light. She was the mother of the Fates, 
Dreams, Discord, Death, Momus, and others, and was worshipped in the 
temple of Diana at Ephesus. 

66 The Dolphin] — Ver. 457. The cosmic rising of the Dolphin on 
the 9th of January ; being the fifth of the Ides. In Book ii. the poet 
relates how the Dolphin carried Arion to Tasnarus, when the minstrel 
had been thrown into the sea by the sailors anxious to obtain his wealth. 
It was also said that the Dolphin was thus honoured for having gainecj 
die band of Amphitrite for Neptune. 



30 THE FASTI ; [b. i. 459—476. 

The next day marks the winter by a central line, 67 and the 
'part of it which will then remain, will be equal to that which 
is past. 

The next dawn, 68 Tithonus having been left by her, shall 
look upon the pontifical ceremonies of the Arcadian goddess. 
Thee too, sister of Turnus, 69 the same day received in thy 
temple, here where the Plain of Mars is traversed by the 
aqueduct of the Virgin. Whence shall I derive the causes 
and the forms of these sacred rites ? 70 Who can guide my 
sails in the midst of the deep. Instruct me thyself, thou who 
hast a name derived from song, and favour my undertaking, 
lest thy glory be lost in uncertainty. Having an origin 
before that of the moon 71 (if we credit it when speaking of 
itself), the land derives its name from the great Areas. 72 
Here was Evander, 73 who, although on either side of illustrious 
origin, was more noble in the line of his sacred mother : who, 
as soon as she had conceived the inspiration of heaven in her 
soul, used to utter from her unerring lips verses redolent of 
the divinity. She had told her son that troubles were im- 

67 Central line.'] — Ver. 459. Ovid makes the 10th of January the 
middle day of winter. Columella makes it the 4 th of that month. 

68 The next daivn.~\ — Ver. 461. Aurora was the goddess of the morning, 
and the daughter of Hyperion, or of Titan. She became enamoured of 
Tithonus, son of Laomedon, king of Troy, and took him with her to 
heaven. 

69 Sister of Turnus.] — Ver. 463. Juturna was a water nymph, who, 
according to Virgil, iEneid xii., was beguiled by Jupiter, and by him made 
a goddess of the streams. Her temple stood in the Campus Martius at 
Rome. She is again mentioned in the next book. 

70 These sacred rites.] — Ver. 465. The Carmentalia, in honour of Car- 
menta, a goddess of Arcadian origin, called also Nicostrata and Themis. 
It is said below by the poet, that the name Carmenta was derived from 
her prophetic powers, ' carmen' being the Latin word for ' prophecy/ 
w r hich being originally given in verse, the term ' carmen ' afterwards 
became applicable to all kinds of verse. Carmenta had a temple in the 
forum consecrated to her by the Roman matrons. 

71 That of the moon.] — Ver. 469. Indeed all the Arcadians styled them- 
selves TrpocreXrjvol, ' existing before the moon/ or ' Pra3lunites. > This 
circumstance is mentioned in the next book. 

72 Areas.] — Ver. 470. Areas was son of Jupiter and Calisto, and trans- 
ferred to heaven as a constellation after his death. Arcadia, to which he 
gave name, was in the centre of Peloponnesus, bounded by Achaia, Messenia, 
Elis, and Argolis. 

73 Evander.] — Ver. 471. He was son of Carmenta, by Mercury, or, ac- 
cording to others, by Echemus. 



B . ,. 476—501.] OK. CALENDAR OF OVID. 31 

pending over him and herself, and many things besides, which 
obtained their fulfilment in the lapse of time. For now the 
youth exiled with his mother, too true a prophetess, leaves 
Arcadia and his Parrhasian 74 home. To him, as he wept, 
his mother said, " Stay thy tears, my son, this turn of fortune 
must be borne by thee with manful spirit. This was thy 
destiny ; it is no guilt of thy own that has exiled thee, but a 
god ; thou hast been banished from thy city by the anger of 
a divinity. Thou art now enduring, not the penalty of a 
misdeed, but the wrath of a deity ; it is some consolation 
that guilt does not accompany thy great misfortunes. As the 
mind of each man is conscious of good or evil, so does he con- 
ceive within his breast hope or fear, according to his actions. 
Mourn not as though thou ivert the first that had suffered 
such ills ; the same storm has borne down many a mighty 
man. The same did Cadmus 75 suffer, who long ago, when 
banished from the Tyrian shores, took- up his abode, an out- 
cast, on the Aonian soil. The same did Tydeus, 76 the same 
did Pagasaean Jason 77 suffer ; and others besides, whom to 
enumerate w r ould be a task too tedious. To the brave man 
every land is a country, as, to the fishes the ocean, and as, to 
the bird the whole extent of space in the world of air. Nor 
does bleak winter freeze throughout the whole of the year ; 
to thee too — believe me — the hours of spring will yet come." 
Evander, with mind emboldened by the words of his parent, 
cuts the waves with his bark, and reaches Hesperia. 78 

74 Parrhasian.] — Ver. 478. Parrhasia was a town of Arcadia. 

75 Cadmus.'] — Ver. 490. Son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. His sister 
Europa having been carried off by Jupiter, he was sent in search of her, 
and founded the colony of Boeotia, one of the ancient names of which 
was Aonia. These lines are thus translated by Gower : — 

1 This Cadmus, banished from the Tyrian Bay, 
Endur'd, then settled in Aonia/ 

76 Tydeus.] — Ver. 491. He was son of (Eneus, king of Calydon. Having 
accidentally slain one of his friends, he fled to the court of Adrastus, king 
of Argos, whose daughter Deiphyle he married. 

77 Pagascecn Jason.] — Ver. 491. Pagasae was a sea-port of Thessaly. 
Jason was the son of iEson, king Of Iolchos, who headed the expedition 
to Colchis, in pursuit of the golden fleece, which he gained by the aid of 
Medea. 

78 Hesperia.] — Ver. 498. So called from ' Hesperus/ or i Vesper/ the 
evening star, as Italy was to the west of Greece, where it first received that 
appellation. Evander arrived in Italy in the reign of Faunus. 



32 THE FASTI ; [b. i. 501—521. 

And now, by the advice of the skilled Carmentis, he had 
directed his bark into the river, and was proceeding against 
the stream of the Etrurian current. She beholds the bank 
of the river, to which the fords of Terentus 79 are adjacent, 
and the cottages scattered over the lonesome districts. And as 
she was, with her locks all dishevelled, she stood before the poop, 
and with stern look withheld the hand of him who was guiding 
the vessel's course. Then stretching forth her arms towards the 
right bank afar, she thrice strikes the pine wood deck with frantic 
foot. Scarcely, yes, scarcely, was she restrained by the hand 
of Evander from springing forward, in her haste to stand upon 
the shore. " Hail, gods of the regions sought by us/' she 
said, " and thou country that shalt hereafter give new gods to 
Heaven, and ye rivers and fountains, which this strange land 
enjoys ; ye too, nymphs of the groves, and ye choirs of the 
Naiads. 80 With favouring omens be ye seen by my son and 
by me, and may that bank be trodden with an auspicious step. 
Am I deceived? or shall these hills 81 become a vast city, and 
shall the rest of the world seek laws from this land ? To 
these mountains the sway of the whole earth is promised 
one day ; who could suppose the place to have so high a 
destiny? And soon shall the Dardanian ships 82 touch at 
these shores ; here too shall a woman be the cause 83 of a fresh 
war. Pallas, w my beloved grandson, why dost thou put on 

79 Terentus.] — Ver. 501. This was a place at the end of the Campus 
Martius, where was a subterranean altar to the infernal deities. 

80 The Naiads.] — Ver. 512. The Naiads were deities who presided 
over rivers, springs, and fountains. They were represented as beauteous 
damsels, naked to the waist, and reclining on a vase, which was pouring 
forth a stream of water. Goats and lambs were offered to them, with 
wine, oil, milk, honey, fruits, and flowers. Gower translates these lines : — • 

1 Ye springs and rivers of this land hospitious, 
Ye fairies feat, and water-nymphs delicious.' 

81 These hills.] — Ver. 515. Alluding prophetically to the future desti- 
nies of Rome. The heights on which it was built were the Palatine, 
Capitoline, Janiculan, Cselian, Esquiline, Viminal, and Quirinal Hills. 

82 Dardanian ships.] — Ver. 519. Trojan. Dardanus was the son of 
Jupiter and Electra, and was considered as the founder of Troy. She 
alludes to the arrival of jEneas about sixty years after. His travels and 
his arrival in Italy, when rendered homeless by the destruction of Troy, 
form the subject of the iEneid of Virgil. 

83 A woman be the cause.] — Ver. 520. Lavinia, the daughter of Latinus, 
was the cause of the war between iEneas and Turnus. Helen, the wife of 
IVlenelaus, had previously been the cause of the Trojan war. 

34 Pallas.] — Ver. 521. Son of Evander. He led the auxiliaries which 



B. I. 521—533.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. S3 

those fatal arms ? Yet put them on ; thou wilt be slain 
with no mean avenger of thy death. Troy ! although con- 
quered, thou shalt conquer, and overthrown, thou shalt rise 
again ; S5 that same ruin shall overwhelm the homes of thy 
foes. 86 Burn Neptunian Pergamus, 87 ye triumphant flames; 
is not that heap of ashes more exalted 88 than the whole world 1 
Presently shall pious iEneas bring hither the sacred relics, 
and his father, 89 a second sacred charge ; receive, Vesta, 90 the 
gods of Iliuni. The time will come, when the same person shall 
have the charge of thee and of the world as well, and thy 
sacred rites 91 shall be performed by a worshipper, himself a 
god. In the hands of the Augusti shall remain the guardian- 
ship of their native country ; it is the decree of heaven that 
this house should hold the reins of empire. One thence sprung, 
the grandson and the son 92 of a god, though he himself 

his father supplied to iEneas, and was killed by Turnus, who was slain by 
iEneas. 

85 Shalt rise again.] — Ver. 523. Namely, in Rome, founded by the de- 
scendants of thy people. 

86 Homes of thy foes."] — Ver. 524. She alludes to the future subjection 
of the Grecian provinces by Rome. 

87 Neptunian Pergamus.'] — Ver. 525. Pergamus was properly the Citadel 
of Troy, but the word is often used by the poets for the entire city. Troy 
was called * Neptunian,' because, when banished from Heaven, Neptune, 
with Apollo, assisted King Laomedon in building it. 

88 More exalted.] — Ver. 526. That is to say, ' in its consequences/ if 
we consider with the poet that the foundation of Rome was owing to the 
destruction of Troy. 

89 His father.] — Ver. 527. Anchises, the father of iEneas, did not, ac- 
cording to Virgil and other writers, reach Italy, but died in Sicily; though 
Ovid, Cato, Strabo, and Dio Cassius, say the contrary. The relics alluded 
to, are the images of the Trojan gods, the sacred fire of Vesta, and, accord- 
ing to some writers, the Palladium. 

90 Receive, O Vesta.] — Ver. 528. Vesta was the goddess of fire, and had 
a temple in Rome, which was built by Numa. In her sanctuary was pre- 
served the Palladium of Troy, and a fire kept constantly burning by the 
Vestal virgins. The goddess received her name from the Greek word 
taria, a * hearth/ 

91 Thy sacred rites.1 — Ver. 530. Julius Caesar was the ' Pontifex 
Maximus,' or chief priest, and after his death was deified. Allusion is 
here made to him, or to the Emperor Augustus, who also received divine 
honours, and in his lifetime united the imperial with the pontifical 
office. 

92 Grandson and the son.] — Ver. 533. Either one person, Tiberius, the 
adopted son of the god Augustus, and grandson of the god Julius ; or 
two persons, Tiberius, the son, and Germanicus, the grandson of Augustus. 

D 



34 THE FASTI ; [b. I. 533—548. 

refuse it, shall bear with godlike mind the burden which his 
father bore. And as I shall, in times to come, be conse- 
crated in everlasting shrines, so shall Augusta Julia 93 be a 
new divinity. 

When, with such sayings as these she came down to our 
own times, her prophetic tongue stopped short in the very 
midst of her accents. Landing from his ship, the exile stood 
on the Latian herbage ; happy the man 94 to whom that coun- 
try was a place of exile ! And no long delay was there ; new 
habitations were erected, and throughout the Ausonian hills 
there was no one greater than the Arcadian. Lo, the club- 
bearing hero hither drives the kine of Erytheea, 95 having 
travelled over the length of the vast world. And now while 
the Tegeaean 96 house is his place of entertainment, his kine un- 
tended wander through the luxuriant fields. It was dawn ; 
startled from his slumber, the Tirynthian 97 guest perceives that 

Tiberius alone is probably referred to, as he did reign, which Germanicus 
did not ; and we are told that he affected to show great reluctance to as- 
sume the reins of government on the death of Augustus. 

96 Augusta Julia.] — Ver. 536. This was Livia Drusilla, daughter of 
L. Drusus Calidanus, and wife of Tiberius Nero, by whom she had Tiberius 
and Drusus Germanicus. Augustus, in order to marry her, divorced his 
wife Scribonia, and, on his death, she received the name of Julia by virtue 
of his will. Though Ovid is here deifying the lady in a spirit of anticipa- 
tion, and though she survived him several years, it actually was the fact, 
that she was deified by her grandson Claudius, as Suetonius and Tacitus 
inform us. She was a woman of bad and unscrupulous character. 
Gower renders these lines : — 

* As sure as altars me perpetually 
Shall worship, Julia shall a goddess be/ 

? 4 Happy the man.'] — Ver. 540. If, as is generally supposed, these lines 
were written by Ovid when himself in banishment, this expression perhaps 
was accompanied by a sigh for his far-distant home. 

95 Erythcea.'] — Ver. 543. Erytha?a was an island near Gades, now Cadiz, 
in Spain. Geryon, a three-bodied monster, lived there, possessing nu- 
merous herds and flocks ; Hercules destroyed him, and drove his flocks 
and herds to Tirynthus. 

96 Tegeceari]. — Ver. 545. Tegeaea was a city of Arcadia, near the Eurotas. 
Gower thus translates these hues : — 

1 And being here entertain'd by King Evander, 
His beasts unkept about the plains do wander.' 

57 Tirynthian.] — Ver. 547. Hercules was said to have been nursed 
and brought up at Tirynthus, a town of Argolis, in Peloponnesus. 



b. I. 548—565.] OE, CALENDAR OF OYID. 35 

two bulls are missing from his number. He seeks them, and 
he sees not a trace of the noiseless theft ; the fierce Cacus had 
dragged them backwards into his cave ; Cacus, 98 the dread and 
disgrace of the Aventine forest," no slight curse to both 
neighbours and travellers. Hideous was the appearance of 
the creature j 1 his strength was in proportion to his bulk, his 
body was huge : Mulciber 2 was the sire of this monster, and 
for his habitation there was a mighty cavern made secret by 
long passages retreating within, a den that could hardly be 
found by the wild beasts themselves. Human heads and arms 
hang nailed over the lintels, and the ground is quite blanched, 
frightful with the bones of men. The son of Jove was de- 
parting, a part of his oxen having been thus carelessly tended 
by him, when the stolen animals uttered a lowing with a 
hoarse voice. " I accept the recall," 3 he says ; and tracing the 
sound, the avenger comes through the woods to the accursed 
cave. The other had obstructed the approach by the barrier 
of a mountain fragment ; hardly could twice five yokes of oxen 
have moved that mass. The Hero strains with his shoulders, 
(the heavens, I should tell you, had once rested 4 on them), 

98 Cacus.'] — Ver. 551. Fabled to have been the son of Vulcan and Me- 
dusa. According to some accounts, he was a dishonest, servant of Evander. 

99 Aventine forest.] — Ver. 551. The Aventine was the most extensive 
of the Roman hills, and was called by that name after an Alban king, 
who was buried upon it. It was called Murcius,, from Murcia, the goddess 
of sleep, who had a temple there, and Remonius, from Remus, who wished 
to found the Roman city there. 

1 Of the creature.] — Ver. 553. ' Viro' signifies literally, either ' the 
man,' or the * hero ;' and Cacus, by birth, belonged to the class of heroes 
or demigods. But inasmuch as he does not seem to have been worthy of 
the name, according to our conception of its import, and as, by reason 
of his birth, he could not be called a man, the appellation used in the text 
seems to be the most appropriate. 

2 Mulciber.] — Ver. 554. This was one of the names of Vulcan, derived 
from ' mulceo,' ' to soften ,' because, by his art, he softened iron ; being 
the god of fire and the patron of blacksmiths. He was the son of Juno, 
and the husband of Venus. 

3 The recall.] — Ver. 561. To be called back when setting out on a 
journey was generally considered a bad omen. Hercules, however, here 
thought it a good one. 

1 Had once rested.]— Vet. 565. He relieved Atlas, who supported the 
heavens, that he might go and pluck the golden fruit of the Hesperides for 
him. On his return with the apples, Hercules requested Atlas to hold the 
load for a moment while he made a pad for his head. Atlas resumed the 



36 THE FASTI ; [b. i. 566—587. 

and moving it dislodges the mighty weight. As soon as it 
was up torn, the crash startled the very sky, and the earth sank 
down, struck by the weight of the mass. Cacus begins the at- 
tack hand to hand, and fiercely maintains the combat with stones 
and stakes ; and when he fails in the use of these resources, 
with but little courage left, he resorts to the arts of his 
father, and vomits forth flames from his resounding throat. 
Often as he blows them forth, you would believe that 
Typhosus 5 is breathing, and that the rapid flash is hurled 
from the fires of iEtna. Alcides grapples with him, and his 
trebly knotted club, swung back three or four times, was planted 
full upon the face 6 of him opposing. He falls, and belches forth 
smoke mingled with blood ; and dying, with his broad chest, he 
beats the ground. Of those bulls, the conqueror offers one to 
thee, Jupiter, and invites Evander and the inhabitants of the 
country ; he builds an altar to himself, which is styled " the 
Greatest," in the spot 7 where a part of the city has its name 
derived from an ox. 8 And now the mother of Evander is not 
silent on the fact, that the time is near at hand when the earth 
shall have sufficiently enjoyed the presence of her own Her- 
cules. But, as in her life she was most pleasing to the gods, 
so, now herself a goddess, the blessed prophetess possesses 
this day as her own in the month of Janus. 

burden, and Hercules forthwith walked away with the apples. The story 
bears some allusion, doubtless, to the fact, that Atlas was one of the 
first to give some knowledge of astronomy, and perhaps geography. 

5 Typhoeus.] — Ver. 575. A giant called also Typhon, son of Tartarus 
and Terra. Flames darted from his mouth and eyes, and he had a hundred 
heads, like those of a dragon. Waging war upon the gods, he so 
frightened them, that they fled in the shape of various animals. Jupiter 
at length conquered him by his thunderbolts, and placed him under iEtna, 
a volcanic mountain of Sicily. 

6 Upon the face.'] — Ver. 575, 6. Gower renders these lines thus :— 

' Alcides drives on, and, with knotty bat, 
Three or four times doth dash him o'er the pate/ 

7 * The Greatest. ,'] — Ver. 581. This altar, according to Livy, and 
Dionysius, was built by Evander in honour of Hercules, and not by Her- 
cules himself. According to them, Carmenta suggested the dedication, 
and the priests who superintended the sacred rites were the Potitii and 
the Pinarii, two illustrious families of the neighbourhood. 

8 From an ox.] — Ver. 582. 'The Forum Boarium/ or ox-market, called 
so from ' bos/ ' an ox,' and applied to that use on account of the sacrifice 
there offered by Hercules, as mentioned in the text. 



B . i. 587— 598.] OB, CALENDAR OF OYID. 37 

On the Ides, the undented priest in the temple of Jupiter, 
offers on the flames the entrails of a wether ; then every province 
was restored to our people, 8 and thy grandsire was called by the 
title of Augustus. Pass in review the waxen images 9 as they are 
distributed through the halls of the ennobled ; titles so great 
as his never fell to the lot of any one man. Africa calls her 
conqueror 10 after herself ; another hero in his title records the 
subjection of the Isaurian power, 11 another the subjection of 
the Cretans. 12 The Numidians 13 render one man titled, Mes- 
sana 14 makes another great in story — another has derived his 
distinction from the city of Numantia. 15 Germany gave to 
Drusus 16 both death and a title. Ah me ! how short-lived was 

8 Restored to our people.] — Ver. 589. On the Ides of January, b.c. 
27, and a.u.c. 726, Augustus offered to resign his power. Being pressed 
to retain it, he consented, on condition of handing over the tranquil pro- 
vinces to the people, to retain the unsettled ones and the army, under his 
entire control. The senate, nominally, at least, took the management 
of all the tranquil provinces, and to this fact allusion is here made. 
Octavius on this occasion received the title of Augustus. 

9 The waxen images.'] — Ver. 591. These waxen images represented 
those persons who had the privilege of using them. Those who were 
called ' nobiles,' having filled the office of Consul, Praetor, Censor, or Curule 
iEdile, had this privilege, which was called ' jus imaginum,' and they were 
kept with great care by their posterity, and carried before them at their 
funerals. They were painted busts as far as the shoulders, made in wax ; and 
they were placed in the ' atria,' or halls, carefully enclosed in wooden cases, 
supplying much the same place as our family pictures. Titles and 
inscriptions were written below them, describing the honours and 
achievements of the persons thereby represented. 

10 Calls her conqueror.] — Ver. 593. The Romans occasionally took 
an additional name, ' agnomen,' or ' cognomen,' from some illustrious deed 
or great event. P. Cornelius Scipio, after his victory over Syphax, king 
of Numidia, in Africa, received the cognomen of Africanus. 

11 Isaurian power.] — Ver. 593. Publius Servilius, the pro-consul of 
Asia, conquered the Isaurii, a people near mount Taurus. He received a 
triumph, and was honoured with the ' agnomen' of Isauricus. 

12 The Cretans.] — Ver. 594. Q. Metellus was surnamed Creticus, 
from the island of Crete, now Candia, which he subdued. 

13 The Numidians.] — Ver. 595. Q. Caecilius Metellus conquered the 
Numidians, under their king Jugurtha; whence his title ' Numidicus.' 

14 Messana.] — Ver. 595. ' Messana,' or ' Messala,' in Sicily, was con- 
quered by Valerius Corvinus Maximus, who assumed the agnomen of 
* Messala.' 

15 Numantia.] — Ver. 596. A tower in Spain, which, after a fourteen 
years' war, was destroyed by the Romans under Scipio jEmilianus, thence 
called Numantinus, a.u.c. 622. 

16 Drusus.] — Ver. 597. See note online 3 above. 



38 THE FASTI; [b. i. 598— 612. 

that heroic career ! Were Csesar to seek his names from- the 
conquered, he would have to assume as many in number as 
the vast world contains nations. Some celebrated by one 
circumstance derive their titles therefrom, — -for instance, the 
title gained from a breast-chain 17 won, or the assistance af- 
forded by a raven. 18 thou entitled ( Great/ 19 thy title is the 
full measure of thy achievements ; but he who overcame 
thee was too great for any title. And there is no grada- 
tion of epithet beyond the Fabii ; 20 that house was entitled 
e the greatest/ for their services. But yet all these are rendered 
illustrious by honours merely human ; he, however, has a title 
in common with supreme Jove. Our forefathers style the 
sacred rites e august ;' 21 the temples are called c august' when 
consecrated in due form by the hand of the Pontiffs. Augury 
too is derived from the source of this word, 22 and whatsoever 

17 Breast-chain.'] — Ver. 601. Titus Manlius conquered a gigantic 
Gaul in single combat, and stripping him of his collar, or breast-chain, 

* torques,' obtained the title of Torquatus from the circumstance. 

18 By a raven."] — Ver. 602. Marcus Valerius, a military tribune under 
Camillus, fighting with a champion of the Senones in single combat, was 
aided by a raven, which, attacking his enemy in the face with beak and 
claws, enabled him to gain an easy victory. From ' corvus/ ' a raven/ he 
obtained the surname ' Corvinus/ 

19 Entitled ' Great.*] — Ver. 603. Cneius Pompeius, surnamed 'Magnus/ 
or ' the Great/ from his great successes. He was son of Pompeius Strabo, 
who was distinguished in the Italic war. He is generally called Pompey 
the Great, by an adaptation of his name to our ideas of euphony. He was 
conquered by Caesar at Pharsalia, and was treacherously slain. 

20 The Fabii.] — Ver. 605. Q. Fabius Rutilianus, according to Livy, 
book ix. c. 46, for his efforts in restoring concord, and lessening the power 
of the populace during civic elections, received the surname of ' Maximus/ 
or ' Greatest/ as a benefactor to his country, which name his descendants 
bore. According to the genealogists, our gracious Queen is a descendant 
of the Fabii, and, if so, she has, perhaps, a double claim to the name of 

* Maxima.' In the next book Ovid mentions the tradition that the Fabii 
were descended from Hercules. 

21 August.] — Ver. 609. He seems to imply that the word 'Augustus' is 
derived from the same root, l - augurium/ ' an omen/ as though ' consecrated 
by augury/ or 'omen/ or 'understood by means of the birds.' This name, 
an epithet of divinity, was considered beyond any human title. The 
Greeks translated it by cra/Baoroe. from aepw, ' to worship.' 

22 Source of this word.] — Ver. 611. The poet seems to mean, that 
1 augurium ' and f augustus ' come from one origin, connected with ' avis/ 
' a bird/ and perhaps, i gero/ Ho bear.' He also appears obscurely to hint, 



b . i. 612— 628.] OE, CALENDAR OF OVID. 39 

Jupiter blesses with increase by his aid, May he increase 
the sway of our chief, may he increase his years ; and, Csesar, 
long may the chaplet of oak-leaves 23 shade thy doors. The gods 
being propitious, may the inheritor of a title so illustrious 
take upon himself the burden of the world with the same 
auspices that his father did. 

When the third Titan 24 shall look back upon the by-gone 
Ides, there will be a repetition of the sacred rites of the 
Parrhasian goddess. For in former days, before the circum- 
stances to which I allude, covered chariots used to carry the 
Ausonian matrons ; (these, too, I believe to have been named 25 
after the parent of Evander.) In after-times this honour 
being withdrawn from them, each matron formed the de- 
termination by no issue to renew the image of her hated 
lord ; and that she might yield no offspring, reckless, with 
secret blows 26 she was in the habit of loosening from her 
womb the growing burden. They say that the senate repri- 
manded the matrons who had dared to perpetrate these in- 
human deeds, but that nevertheless they restored the privilege 
that had been taken from them. And they now order two 
sets of festivals to be kept in honour of the Tegsean mother, 

that 'augeo/ 'to increase/ is derived from the same source, per- 
haps meaning that ' increase ' was portended by, and the necessary con- 
sequence of, good omens. The 612th line is of somewhat obscure sig- 
nification. 

23 Chaplet of oak-leaves. ~\ — Ver. 614. This was the civic crown, and 
was presented to him who had saved the life of a Roman citizen. When 
the senate decreed the title of Augustus to Octavius, they ordered, in 
their adulation, that a civic crown should be suspended from his house, 
between two laurel branches which were set on either side of his gate. 

24 Titan.] — Ver. 617. An epithet of the sun. The Carmentalia now 
return, not in honour of Carmenta, but of her two sisters, Porrima and 
Postverta. 

25 To have been named.] — Ver. 620. He suggests a silly derivation of 
' carpentum/ ' a chariot/ from the name of Carmenta, The Roman 
matrons received the privilege of the chariot for their generosity after the 
capture of the city of Veii, when they contributed their jewels to aid 
Camillus in performing his vow to Apollo. 

26 With secret blows.]— Yer. 622-3. These lines are thus rendered 
by Gower : — 

• And to prevent her embryon, every mother 
Forced from her womb by some close means or other/ 



40 THE FASTI; [b. i. 628— 643. 

both for the boys and the girls. 27 It is not allowed to bring 
within her holy place any thing made of hide, 28 that sub- 
stances deprived of life, by dying a natural death, may not 
defile the unpolluted hearth. If you are one who have any 
taste for ancient ceremonies, stand by the priest who is pray- 
ing ; you will then catch names which were unknown to you 
before. 29 Porrima and Postverta are bein propitiated, either 
thy sisters, Msenalian nymph, or companions of thy exile. 
The one is believed to have sung of that which was long past, 30 
the other to have prophecied what would happen hereafter in 
the revolution of time. 

Fair Concord, 31 the succeeding day placed in thee in a snow- 
white shrine, where elevated Moneta 32 raises her steps on 
high : now with ease wilt thou look down upon the Latian 
crowd ; now have the august hands of Ccesar replaced thee. 

Furius, the conqueror of the Etrurian people, vowed the 
ancient temple, and long since discharged the obligations 
of his vow. The occasion was, that the commonalty having 



27 Boys and the girls, ,] — Ver. 628. By way of expiation for the 
children of both sexes that had been so made away with. 

28 Made of hide.] — Ver. 629. It was forbidden to bring leather arti- 
cles not only into this temple, but all others. At the same time the rule 
was confined to the skins of animals which had died a natural death. The 
priests were allowed to wear leather sandals, made from the hides of 
beasts that had been killed by them for sacrifice. 

29 Unknown to you before.] — Ver. 632. He seems to imply that these 
deities, Porrima and Postverta, were but little known, and the origin of 
their worship little enquired into. Porrima is so called only in this place, 
and by Servius (on the iEneid, Book viii. line 336). Macrobius (Sat. 
i. 7) calls her 'Antevorta;' and Aulus Gellius (Attic Nights, Book xvi. 6), 
* Prosa/ or 'Prorsa.' The name of the first signifies i turning,' or ' looking 
before;' of the other, 'looking behind. ' Though the poet does not say so, 
from what we learn from A. Gellius, there is no doubt that they were 
obstetrical deities, to be invoked against the perils of difficult partu- 
rition. 

30 Long past.] — Ver. 635. 'Porro* generally signifies 'the future ;' 
but its original meaning might have been ' afar off/ in either sense. 

31 Fair Concord.] — Ver. 637-39. He says that on the following day, 
the 17th of the calends of February, the most ancient of the temples of 
the goddess of Peace has been vowed by Furius Camillus, the Roman 
general, when he had conquered the Veienses, a people of Etruria. 

32 Moneta.] — Ver. 638. The temple of Juno Moneta stood in the 
Capitol : a flight of one hundred steps led to it from the temple of Con- 
cord. It was the Mint, or place of coinage. 



B. i. 643—654.] OE, CALENDAR OF OVID. 41 

taken up arms, had seceded 33 from the senators, and Rome 
herself was in dread of her own strength. The late occasion 
is a more happy 34 one ; Germany, venerated chief, extends 
her dishevelled locks, 35 vanquished under thy auspices. Thence 
it is that thou hast offered 36 the first fruits of a nation, and 
hast constructed a temple to the goddess, the peculiar object of 
thy veneration. This, thy ancestress 37 has endowed both with 
property and with its altar, the only woman found worthy of 
the couch of our great Jove. 

When this festival shall have passed by, then, Phoebus, 
Capricorn being left, thou wilt run thy course through the 
constellation of the youth that carries the water. 38 

When the seventh Orient sun from this shall have plunged him- 
self into the waves, then shall no Lyre 39 be glittering through- 

33 Had seceded.] — Ver. 643. The dissension of the patrician and 
plebeian orders respecting the election of the consuls ended in the election 
of one plebeian consul, Lucius Sextus, a.u.c. 328. This arrangement 
was brought about by Camillus, in his fifth dictatorship. 

34 A more happy one.] — Ver. 645. This is a compliment to Tibe- 
rius. The first temple was built in consequence of civil commotion ; the 
second on the conquest of Germany. 

35 Her dishevelled locks.'] — Ver. 646. It was the custom to shave the 
heads of captives. Ovid may here be speaking figuratively, or perhaps 
literally. The hair of Germany was much valued by the Roman ladies 
for making false tresses ; and perhaps a supply of hair for the wig-makers 
was exacted from the conquered people. Gower's translation of these 
lines is, 

' Brave prince, thy thundering knocks 
Made Germany cut short her dangling locks/ 

36 Hast offered.] — Ver. 647. Tiberius repulsed the Germans, and 
conquered Illyrium. On his triumph he entertained the people at ] 000 
tables, and gave to each man 300 sestertii. The poet may here allude to 
this, or more probably to the offering of the first-fruits of conquest to the 
deities, and especially to the rebuilding of the temple of Concord by 
Tiberius. 

87 Ancestress.] — Ver. 649. Livia, the mother of Tiberius, and the 
grandmother of Germanicus. 

33 That carries the water.] — Ver. 652. On the 16th of the calends of 
February the sun leaves the constellation of Capricorn, and enters that 
of Aquarius, ' the Water-bearer.' Ganymede, the cup-bearer of Jupiter, 
is said by Ovid to have been translated to this constellation. Gower 
translates these lines, 

* These things thus past, Sol leaving Capricorn, 
His race-horse to the water-boy doth turn/ 

39 No Lyre ] — Ver. 654. On the 10th of the calends of February the 
Lyre sets heliacally. 



42 THE FASTI ; [b. i. 654—672. 

out the whole heavens. After the setting of this constella- 
tion, at the approach of night, the fire which twinkles 40 in the 
centre of the lion's breast shall be plunged into the deep. 

Three or four times had I turned 41 over the calendar that 
marks out the seasons of observance, and yet no Sementive 
holiday 42 was found by me ; when the Muse (for she perceived 
my difficulty) says, " This festival is announced by proclama- 
tion ; why dost thou seek from the calendar to find a moveable 
feast 1 And yet, although the day of the festival is unfixed, 
the season is fixed ; it is when the ground is impregnated 
with the scattered seed. Bedecked with garlands, stand at 
the well-filled stall, ye oxen ; with the warm spring your task 
shall return. Let the farmer hang on its peg the plough 
discharged from service; 43 the cold ground shudders at an 
incision. Do, farmer, give some rest to the earth, now that 
seed-time is past ; give some rest to the men, too, who have 
tilled the ground. Let the hamlet 44 keep holiday ; purify the 
village, ye swains, and to the hamlet's altars give your yearly 
cakes. 45 Let Ceres and Tellus, mothers of the fruits, be pro- 
pitiated with their own corn, and the entrails of a preg- 

40 The fire which twinkles.'] — Ver. 656. The star Regulus, in the con- 
stellation Leo, on the ninth of the calends of February, about nightfall, 
sets acronically. Columella says, it sets on the sixth of the calends of 
February. 

41 / turned over."} — Ver. 657. Literally, ' I rolled over/ If this is to 
be read literally, it would rather apply to the scroll form of book than the 
paged book of more recent introduction, and which we have noticed in 
the note to line 19 above. 

42 Sementive holiday.'] — Ver. 658. For an account of the ' dies stativse' 
and * conceptivas,' see the Introduction. 

43 Discharged from service.] — Ver. 665. 'Emeritus' is properly applied 
to the soldier, discharged when the time of military service has expired. 

44 The hamlet.]— Ver. 669. 'Pagus.' Servius Tullius divided the 
Roman territory into ' pagi.' There was in each ' pagus ' an altar, on 
which, during the 'paganalia,' a yearly sacrifice was offered by the 
4 Pagani,' or people of the ' pagus.' This feast was in honour of the rustic 
gods, and was instituted by Servius Tullius. As the country people were 
in general the last to adopt Christianity, the name of 'Pagan' came in 
time to be equivalent to the term ' heathen.' 

45 Yearly cakes.] — ^ er. 670. These were called irk\avoi by the 
Greeks. They were made of eggs, flour, milk, and oil, and were offered 
"by the different families of the 'pagus.' The purification was made by 
pending the victims round the ' pagus ' before they were sacrificed. 



B. I. 672—705.] OB, CALENDAR OF OVID. 43 

nant sow. Ceres and the earth 46 discharge an united duty. 
The one supplies the origin of the crops, the other the situation. 
Partners in toil are they, by whom antiquity was civilized, and 
the acorn from the oak-tree was replaced by a more wholesome 
food. Glut the greedy husbandmen with boundless crops, 
that they may receive rewards worthy of their tillage. Give 
ye uninterrupted growth to the tender seed, and let not the 
shooting blade be withered during the cold snows. While 
we are sowing, clear the skies with cloudless breezes ; when 
the seed is covered in, besprinkle it with the rain of heaven. 
And do ye take heed that the birds, a nuisance to the tilled 
fields, do not in mischievous flocks lay waste the gifts of Ceres. 
You, too, ye ants, spare the grain when sown ; after the har- 
vest there will be a better opportunity for plunder. Mean- 
while, let the standing corn spring up free from the leprous 
mildew, and let not the sickly crop grow wan from the dis- 
tempered atmosphere ; neither let it pine away from meagre- 
ness, nor let it, too luxuriant and all run to blade, perish by 
its own rankness. Let the fields also be clear of darnel that 
weakens the eyes, and let not the sterile wild oat rise in the 
cultivated soil. Let the land return, with heavy interest, the 
produce of the wheat and the barley, and the spelt destined 
twice to endure 47 the fire. These wishes do I entertain for you, 
these wishes entertain for yourselves, ye husbandmen, and 
may either goddess render these prayers efficient. Wars long 
engaged mankind ; the sword was more handy than the 
ploughshare, and the ploughing bull gave place to the charger. 
Then the hoes used to lie idle, the spades were turned into 
pikes, and from the pondrous harrow the helmet was wrought. 
Thanks to the gods and to thy house ! wars long since bound 
in chains lie prostrate under our feet. Let the ox come be- 
neath the yoke, and the seed beneath the ploughed soil. Peace 
nurtures Ceres ; Ceres is the nursling of Peace. 

But on the day which is the sixth before the approaching 

46 The earth.'] — Ver. 673. Worshipped by the Romans under the 
name of < Tellus,' ' Ops,' ' Tellumo/ and ' Bona Dea,' ' the good goddess.' 
According to Varro, the Earth was male in producing seed, female in 
nourishing it. She is sometimes confounded with her partner, Ceres. 
They are here represented as teaching the aborigines to abandon the acorn 
for the cultivation of wheat. 

47 Twice to endure.] — Ver. 693. The ancients used to parch their 
corn before they ground it. 



44 THE FASTI ; [b. i. 705—724. 

calends, their temple was dedicated to the gods, the sons of 
Leda. 48 The brothers sprung from the race of the gods 
erected it in honour of the divine brothers, near the lake of 
Juturna. My song itself now brings me to the altar of Peace. 
This will be the second day from the end of the month. Come 
hither, Peace, with thy well arranged tresses encircled with 
Actian boughs, 49 and in thy gentleness take up thy abode 
through the whole world. While there are no foes, let there 
be no occasion for triumph ; thou shalt be to our chieftains 
a boast greater than war. Let the soldier bear arms, only for 
the purpose of putting down the use of arms. By the wildly 
sounding trumpet let no blast be sounded but that of the 
pageant. Let all the earth, far and near, dread the descend- 
ants of iEneas ; and if there shall be any land that dreads not 
Rome, then let it love her. Throw, ye priests, the incense on 
the fires lighted in honour of Peace, and let the white victim 
fall, with stricken forehead. Entreat too, the gods inclining 
to your hallowed prayers, that the family which gives us peace 
may equal her in eternal duration. But now the first portion 
of my task is completed, and together with its month my 
little book comes to a close. 

48 Sons of Leda."] — Ver. 706. Castor and Pollux were the twin sons 
of Leda by Jupiter, a.u.c. 769, Tiberius built a temple in their honour, 
in his own name and that of his brother Drusus. The divinities were 
called ' Dioscuri/ ' sons of Jove/ Their temple was built near lake 
Juturna and the temple of Vesta. 

49 Actian boughs.} — Ver. 711. Augustus gained a great naval victory 
over Antony and Cleopatra near Actium, a town of Epirus, a.u.c. 723. He 
soon after closed the temple of Janus, in token of universal peace. 



B. II. 1—5.] OB, CALENDAR OF OTTD. 45 



BOOK THE SECOND. 



CONTENTS. 



The nature of the subject and the dedication, ver. 1 — 18. •-< Some remarks 
on the Februa, from which the month derives its name, 19 — 34. The 
common opinion on the efficacy of purgations, 35 — 46. On the ancient 
place of February among the months, and the change in its position, 
47 — 54. The calends of February distinguished by the dedication of 
the temple of Juno Sospita ; the praises of Caesar ; the ceremony in 
the grove of the asylum ; the sacred rites of Jupiter, 55 — 70. The 
cause of tempests at this season, 70 — 72. The setting of the Lyre and 
of the Lion midway, 73 — 7&. The setting of the Dolphin and the story 
of Arion, whose Dolphin is placed among the constellations, 79 — 118. 
Augustus styled the father of his country; his great virtues, and a 
comparison of him with Romulus, 119 — 144. The rising of Aqua- 
rius, and the milder breezes consequent thereon, 145 — 148. The be- 
ginning of spring, 149 — 152. Arctophylax rises ; the story connected 
with it, 153 — 192. The sacred rites of Faunus and the slaughter of 
the Fabii, 193 — 242. The constellations of the Crow, the Snake, and 
the Cup rise, and their story is related, 243 — 266. The rites of the 
Lupercalia and their origin, with the story of Hercules, Omphale, and 
Faunus, and the exposure and preservation of Romulus and Remus, 
267 — 452. The changeableness of the weather, 453 — 456. The entry 
of the Sun into the Fishes ; their story is related, 457 — 474. The Qui- 
rinalia and the deification of Romulus ; the festival of Fools and of the 
goddess Fornax, 475 — 532. The propitiation of the Manes, 533—570. 
The sacred rites of Muta or Tacita, 571—616. The Caristia, 617—618. 
the Terminalia, 639 — 684. The rape of Lucretia and the expulsion of 
the kings, 685—852. The return of the swallow, 853—856. The 
Equiria, 857—864. 

The month of Janus is brought to a close ; with my song the 
year grows apace. As a second month progresses, so let a 
second book proceed. Now for the first time, elegiac strains, 
do ye speed onward with more stately sail ; you were, I re- 
member, but lately of trifling account. 1 I myself have employed 

1 Of trifling account.'] — Ver, 4. The Elegiac measure, which Ovid uses 
in this poem, was usually employed on subjects of a trifling nature. This 



46 THE FASTI; [b. II. 5— 29. 

you as ready agents in love, when my early youth sported in 
numbers adapted to it. I am the same who now sing of sacred 
subjects and the days of observance as they are marked in the 
calendar. Who could believe that such could have proved 2 a 
path to these subjects ? This is my line of service ; what arms 
I can, I bear, and my right hand is not destitute of every skill. 
If javelins are not hurled by me with mighty arm, and if by 
me the back of the warrior steed is not pressed ; if I am not 
cased in the helmet, nor girded with the sharp sword, (any one, 
forsooth, may be skilled in such arms as these), still, Csesar, 
with zealous breast I trace onwards thy deeds of glory, and 
proceed on my path through the recital of thy titles. Be 
thou then present, and reward with benign aspect my services, 
if but for a moment ; if thou hast any leisure from thy task 
of forcing the enemy to sue for peace. 

Our Roman forefathers called atoning sacrifices by the name 
of c Februa ;' 3 and even now many traces of its meaning confirm 
this signification of the expression. The Pontiffs ask wool of the 
king of the sacrifices and of the Flamen 4 , the name of which in 
the ancient dialect was f Februa ;' and the purifying substances 
which the lictor takes for the houses when ascertained as being 
impure, the parched spelt with the grain of salt, are called by 
the same name. This too is the name of the bough, which, 
lopped from a consecrated tree, covers with its foliage the 
holy temples of the priests. I myself have seen the Flaminica 
asking for the c Februa ;' a bough of pine was presented to 
her making this request for the ' Februa ' by name. In a 

was the character of many of his previous compositions in this kind of 
verse. Gower translates these lines : — 

1 Now, Elegies, your sails you 'gin display, 
Methoughts you were but little flags to-day.' 

2 Such could have proved.'] — Ver. 8. Namely, his ' Amours' and * the 
Art of Love,' upon which he had formerly employed the Elegiac measure. 

6 Februa.] — Ver. 19. According to Varro (on Rustic Matters, Book 5), 
this word was <3f Sabine origin. It probably came from ' ferveo,' ' to be 
hot,' inasmuch as purification was effected through the medium of heat. 

4 Flamen.] — Ver. 21. The ' Pontifex' was a priest who sacrificed to all 
the gods ; the 'Flamen' dedicated his service to but one deity ; the 'Flamen 
Dialis,' or priest of Jupiter, held the highest office among the Flamens. 
Among other privileges, that of being attended by a lictor was one. The 
flaminica' was the wife of the Flamen Dialis, Her assistance was essential 
in the performance of certain sacred duties ; and, as the Flamen was re- 
stricted to one marriage, if the Flaminica died he was obliged to resign. 



B. II. 29 — 40.] OE, CALENDAR OF OVID. 47 

word, whatever there is by means of which our breasts are puri- 
fied, it had with our unshaven ancestors 5 this name. From these 
circumstances the month derives its name, 6 either because the 
Luperci 7 with thongs of hide, purify all the country, and con- 
sider that rite an expiation; or because the season is purified, the 
shades of the dead being appeased when the days devoted to 
their offerings have passed by. Our ancients believed that purifi- 
cation was efficacious to remove every curse, and every cause of 
evil. Greece was the originator of the custom ; she believes that 
the guilty, when purified, forthwith divest themselves of guilt. 
Peleus rid of guilt the grandson of Actor, 8 as Acastus by the 
agency of the Haemonian 9 waters released Peleus himself from 

5 Unshaven ancestors.'] — Ver. 30. The Romans did not shave until the 
year 454 a. u. c, about 300 years before Christ. According to Pliny the 
Elder, Nat. Hist. p. 59, Ticinius Mena first introduced a barber into Rome. 
According to others it was Scipio. In the sixth Book of the Fasti, line 
264, Ovid calls Numa ' intonsus,' ' unshaven.' Horace calls Cato by the 
same appellation, Odes, Book 2, ode 16, 

6 Derives its name.'] — Ver. 31. He says that February is so called from 
1 Februa,' ' purifying objects,' either because the Luperci purify by their 
rites in honour of Faunus ; or because in this month the graves are pu- 
rified by the propitiation of the shades of the dead. 

7 The Luperci.] — Ver. 31. The Luperci, whose rites are described in the 
present book, were priests of Pan, and were so called from ' lupus,' a 
1 wolf,' as Pan was supposed to protect the flocks from wolves. Hence his 
place of worship was called ' Lupercal,' and his rites were the ' Lupercalia.' 
They ran through the city naked, with the exception of a girdle of goat- 
skin round the waist; and they carried thongs of the same in their hands, 
striking whomsoever they met, and in particular married women, who 
were supposed to be rendered prolific thereby. There were of the Luperci 
three divisions, two ancient, the Fabiani, and the Quintiliani, and a third in 
honour of Julius Caesar. They were not abolished until the time of 
Anastasius, in the commencement of the sixth century after Christ. 

8 The grandson of Actor.] — Ver. 39. Patroclus, son of Mensetius, was 
forced to fly from Opus, where his father reigned, having accidentally 
slain Chrysonomus, son of Amphidamus, and retired to the court of Peleus, 
king of Thessaly, and the father of Achilles, where he was kindly enter- 
tained. He was slain by Hector in tfte Trojan war. Peleus was the son 
of iEacus : he and Telamon having slain Phocus, their half-brother, 
Peleus fled to Phthia, where he was purified by Eurytion, or by the 
father of Eurytion. Having in the chase of the Calydonian boar acci- 
dentally slain fiurytion, he was purified a second time by Acastus, the 
king of Iolchos. The poet is mistaken in saying that it was Acastus who 
absolved Peleus from the murder of Phocus. 

9 Bcemonian.]-— Ver. 40. So called either from Mount Haemus, in Thes- 
saly, or from Hsemon son of Deucalion. The ancients considered sea 
water more efficacious for this purpose than fresh or spring water. 



48 THE FASTI; [b. II. 40—54. 

the blood of Phocus. The too easily persuaded iEgeus 10 
assisted with ill-deserved aid the Phasian borne on her har- 
nessed dragons through the air. The son of Amphiaraus 11 said 
to the Naupactan Achelous 12 , " absolve me of my guilt." 
Whereupon he did absolve him of his guilt. Ah ! too credulous 
mortals, who imagine that the guilt of bloodshed can be 
removed by the waters of the stream. 

But, however, that thou mayst not be perplexed through 
ignorance of the ancient arrangement ; the month of Janus, 
as now it is, so formerly it was the first month. The month 
that follows that of Janus was by name the last 13 of the ancient 
year ; thou also, Terminus, didst conclude the sacred rites. 
For the month of Janus is first, because the gate is at the 
very entrance ; the last month was that which is consecrated 
to the shades of the dead below. In times after, the Decem- 
virs 14 are thought to have placed in succession, the periods 
before separated by so long an interval. 

10 JEgeus.] — Ver. 41. ^Egeus was king of Athens? and son of Pandion. 
Medea having revenged herself upon Jason hy the slaughter of his chil- 
dren, fled in a chariot, drawn by dragons, to the court of iEgeus, whose 
protection she obtained by promising to instruct him how to raise issue. 
She is called * the Phasian/ from Phasis, a river of Colchis, her native 
country. 

11 The son of Amphiaraus .] — Ver. 43. Alcmaeon. Amphiaraus, the 
prophet, concealed himself, in order that he might not accompany the 
Argive expedition against Thebes, as he knew that he was doomed to 
perish there. His wife Eriphyle, bribed by Polynices with a golden neck- 
lace, betrayed him. On going to the war he charged his son Alcmaeon to 
avenge his death, who, on hearing that his father had fallen, slew his 
mother, and was purified by Pheggeus in Arcadia, but being still per- 
secuted by the Furies, was purified by the river Achelous a second time. 

12 Achelous.] — Ver. 43. A river of Acarnania, near Mount Pindus. 
which falls into the gulf of Corinth. Naupactus, now Lepanto, was a 
town in iEtolia, which derived its name from ship-building there carried 
on. Gower translates the two following lines : — 

* Ah, too, too silly, who imagine water 
Can wash away that heavy crime of slaughter/ 

13 The last.] — Ver. 49. Ovid is the only author that mentions the fact, 
that when Numa added the two months to the year, he placed January 
first and February last, or twelfth, and that as being last or lowest of the 
months, he dedicated it to the shades below. According to him, the 
Decemviri transposed its place from after December to after January, from 
twelfth to second, thus joining the periods that before, counting onwards, 
had been separated by a long interval. 

14 The Decemvirs.] — Ver. 54. Bis quiniviri. Literally, % the twice five 



B ii. 55—69-] OK, CALENDAR OF OYID. 49 

In the beginning of the month, the temple of the Goddess 
the Preserver, 15 adjoining to that of the Phrygian Mother, is 
said to have been enriched by new shrines. You ask, where is 
now the temple consecrated to the Goddess on those calends ? it 
has perished by length of time. The watchful care of our sacred 
chief has provided that the other temples should not fall down, 
tottering with similar ruin ; under him the temples feel not the 
ravages of time ; it is not enough to grant favours to us mortals, 
he lays the very Gods under obligations to him. Thou builder 
of the temples, thou holy restorer of our shrines, may the 
Deities, I pray, have a reciprocal regard for thee. May the 
dwellers in heaven grant thee as many years as thou hast be- 
stowed on them, and may they ever be the watchful guardians 16 
of thy house. 

On that day too, the grove of the neighbouring Asylum 17 is 
resorted to by the crowds, where the Tiber from afar rolls on- 
ward to the ocean waters. At the abode of Numa, 18 and the 

quiries having been made by decree of the senate into the nature of the 
Grecian laws, and the code of Solon, on the return of the commission in 
the year b.c. 451. Ten men, called the 'Decemviri,' were chosen, with 
supreme power to draw up a code of laws, all the other magistrates 
having abdicated their offices. They were appointed the following year, 
and were discontinued in consequence of their oppressive conduct and 
the unjust decision of Appius Claudius, which occasioned the death of 
Virginia by the hand of her father, to save her from prostitution. 

15 The Preserver •.] — Ver. 57. It is not known when, or by whom, this 
temple to Juno ' Sospita,' or ' the Preserver/ was built. It must have 
stood on the Palatine Hill, as the temple of Cybele, the Phrygian 
mother was there. * Sospita' comes from ' sospes,' ' safe,' and that word 
is derived from ' (tw^w/ ' to save.' 

16 The watchful guardians. ,] — Ver. 65. ' Maneant in statione,' literally, 
' remain at their post ; ' a military phrase. 

17 Asylum.'] — Ver. 67. Romulus constituted an asylum in a grove near 
the Tiber, as a place of refuge from punishment for guilty persons. He also 
opened it to the criminals of other states, that he might thereby augment 
the number of his own citizens. In later times it was walled in. It seems 
from this passage that it skirted the Capitolium, running down to the 
banks of the Tiber. 

18 Abode of Numa.~\ — Ver. 69. ' Penetrale' is literally ' the court- 
yard' or ' hall.' Ovid tells us, in the sixth book, 1. 264, that Numa re- 
sided in the temple of Vesta. But other writers, with more accuracy, 
tell us that he only lived near her Temple. It stood opposite the Capi- 
tolium. The temple of Jupiter Tonans, ' the Thunderer,' stood on the 
lowest ridge of the Capitoline Hill, and was built by Augustus. This 

E 



50 THE FASTI ; [b. ii. 69—90. 

temple of the Thunderer, on the Capitoline Hill, and on the 
loftiest height of Jove, a sheep of two years old is slain. Oft- 
times the south wind enwrapped in clouds summons together 
the heavy rains, or the earth is hidden beneath the fallen 
snow. 

When the next day's sun, about to retire into the western 
waves, removes the jewelled collars from his purple steeds, 
on the same night many a one, raising his face to the stars, 
shall say, where, I wonder, is to-day the constellation of the 
Lyre, 19 which was shining yesterday? and while he is seeking 
for the Lyre, he shall observe the back of the Lion as far as 
his middle 20 suddenly plunged into the flowing waters. 

The Dolphin, whom of late you were in the habit of seeing 
bespangled with stars, on the following night shall pass from 
our sight. He either was a successful spokesman in loves con- 
cealed, 21 or it was he that bore the Lesbian 22 Lyre with its 
master. What sea has not known, what land does not know 
of Arion? He with his song used to detain the running 
streams. Often has the wolf been stayed by his voice, as he 
was chasing the lamb ; oft has the lamb, when fleeing from 
the ravenous wolf, stopped short in her flight ; oft have the 
hounds and the hare reclined beneath the same shade ; and 
the hind has stood still on the mountain crag close to the 
lioness ; without strife the chattering crow has sat in com- 
pany with the bird of Pallas, 23 and the pigeon has been 

must not be confounded with the ' Capitolium,' or more ancient temple of 
Jupiter Capitolinus. The temple ' of the Thunderer on the Capitoline 
Hill' seems to be the last, and ' the loftiest height of Jove' appears to 
refer to the former. 

1S The Lyre.'] — Ver. 76. The cosmical setting of the Lyre on the night 
of the second of February. 

20 As far as his middle.'] — Ver. 77. This must be the hindmost half, as 
the foremost had already set, Book 1, line 591. 

21 Loves concealed.] — Yer. 81. The secret love of Neptune for Am- 
phitrite ; though, according to some accounts, the god was far too pressing 
in his attentions to make a favourable impression on the goddess. 

22 Lesbian.] — Ver. 82. Arion was a native of Methymna, a town in 
Lesbos. The Dolphin is said to have landed him on the promontory of 
Ttenarus. 

23 The bird of Pallas.] — Ver. 89. The solemn and taciturn owl, which 
was not likely in general to form any intimate acquaintanceship with the 
garrulous crow. 



B. II. 90— 112.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 51 

coupled with the hawk. Tuneful Arion ! Cynthia 24 is said 
oft-times to have been spell-bound by thy strains as though by 
those of her brother Apollo. The name of Arion had filled 
the cities of Sicily, and the coast of Ausonia had been charmed 
by the tones of his lyre. Returning homeward thence Arion 
embarked, and was bringing with him the treasures thus ac- 
quired by his skill. Perchance, hapless one, thou wast in 
fear of the winds 25 and the waves, but yet did the ocean 
prove more safe to thee than thy own vessel. For now the 
helmsman stood by him with sword unsheathed, and the rest 
of the crew conspiring with arms in their hands. What 
hast thou to do with that sword ? Sailor, guide the veering 
bark. These are not the implements that should be grasped 
by thy fingers. And now, guessing their purpose, struck 
with terror, he says, " I deprecate not death, but let me take 
my lyre and recall but a few notes." They give him leave, 
but laugh at \\n& pretext for delay. He takes a chaplet which, 
Phoebus, might grace even thy tresses ; he was arrayed too 
in a mantle twice steeped in Tyrian purple. 26 Struck by 
his thumb the chord returned its usual notes ; just as the 
swan when pierced in his grey temples 27 by the cruel feathered 
shaft, sings in mournful numbers. Instantly, in his bright array, 
he leaps forth into the midst of the waves ; the azure bark is 

24 Cynthia.~\ — Ver. 91. Diana was thus called from Cynthus, a moun- 
tain of Delos, which overshadowed that island, the birth-place of Apollo 
and Diana. The poet here speaks of her as the moon. 

25 In fear of the winds'] — Ver. 97. Implying that he had no suspicion 
of the quarter in which his danger lay ; but Herodotus, who, in his 
History, book i. cap. 23, gives the story, says that he was apprehensive 
of danger, and purposely hired a Corinthian vessel. 

26 Tyrian purple ] — Ver. 107. Vests twice dyed were called ' dibapha/ 
from the Greek dig, 'twice/ and Panno, 'to dip.' The purple dye, for 
which Tyre was so famous, was obtained from the ' murex/ a kind of 
shell-fish. Garments dyed therewith were very costly. 

37 Pierced in his grey temples.] — Ver. 110, Gower thus translates this 
and the following lines : — 

1 He sings in mournful numbers like a swan, 
Whose hardened quills have pierced his aged brain-pan, 
Then into water thus assured doth skip ; 
The battered billows all bedash the ship.' 
As Travesty nothing could be more successful than this. He seems here, 
by his translation of ' penna/ to adopt the idea that sw T ans were supposed 
by the ancients, in their old age, to have their brain pierced by their 
own feathers. It seems rather to mean 'the feathered arrow/ 

E 2 



52 THE FASTI; [b. ii. 112-135. 

splashed by the spray of the water. Then— too wondrous 
for belief — they tell how the dolphin, with curving back, placed 
himself beneath his unusual burden. He, as he sits, holds 
the lyre, and sings in requital for his conveyance, and calms by 
his strains the ocean waters. The Gods are witnesses of this 
act of kindness ; Jupiter admitted the Dolphin among the Con- 
stellations, and desired him to become the owner of nine stars. 
Now could I wish that I had a thousand voices, and thy 
genius, Mseonian bard, 28 by which Achilles 29 has been 
celebrated. While I am singing in alternating verse 30 those 
sacred nones, the greatest honour 31 of all is heaped upon my 
Calendar ; my genius fails me, and a subject too great for 
my strength quite overpowers me. This day must be sung 
by me in a distinguished strain. Why in my infatuation did I 
wish to impose on elegiac strains a burden so vast as this ? This 
indeed were a proper subject for heroic metre. Sacred Father 
of thy country ! on thee the people, on thee the senate con- 
ferred this title. This too we of r equestrian rank 32 conferred 
upon thee. But reality conferred this title long previously ; 
and late indeed was it that thou didst receive thy true ap- 
pellation ; long since wast thou the father of the whole world. 
Thou bearest throughout the earth the name that Jupiter bears 
in the lofty heavens ; thou art the father of men, he of the 
gods. Romulus, thou must give way, for 'tis he who makes 
thy walls great by defending them ; while thou hadst left them 
so low as to be overleap t by Remus. Thee indeed, Tatius 33 felt, 

28 McBonian bard.~] — Ver. 120. Homer was so calied from Maeonia, a 
mountain in Lydia, at the foot of Mount Tmolus, where he is said to have 
been born. Others suppose the epithet to have been derived from Maeon, 
which is said to have been the name of his father. 

29 Achilles.'] — Ver. 119. It is difficult to say whether Achilles or 
Hector is the hero of the Iliad, in which they are both celebrated. The 
latter, at least, is represented as a man of better morals, and of less ungo- 
vernable temper, than his antagonist. 

30 Alternating verse. .] — Ver. 121. His lines are the heroic hexameter, 
or six-feet line, alternating with the elegiac pentameter, or five-feet line. 

31 Greatest honour.] — Ver. 122. Augustus having on this day received 
the title of ' Pater Patriae/ or ' Father of his Country/ a.u.c. 758, seven 
years after his 13th consulate, 

32 We of equestrian rank ] — Ver. 128. Ovid was of the rank of 
' equites/ or knights. The patricians, knights, and plebeians, formed the 
three classes of the Roman people who were freemen. 

33 Tatius.] — Ver. 135. He was the king of the Sabines. Cures and 



B II. 135-148.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 53 

and humble Cures, and Caenina ; but under this chief 
each region 34 of the sun is Roman. Thou didst possess a 
trifling piece of conquered ground. Over all that is beneath 
supreme Jove, does Caesar hold sway. Thou actest the 
ravisher's part : he bids wives to be virtuous 35 under his 
rule. Thou shelterest the guilty in the asylum of the 
grove ; he removes afar all guilt. Violence was thy delight ; 
under Caesar the laws are in force. Thou hadst the name of 
Master, he has that of chief citizen. 36 Remus upbraids thee 
with murder; he has forgiven even his enemies. Thy sire 37 
raised thee to the skies, it is he who has raised his father. 
And now the Idaean youth 38 appears above the ivave as far as 
the middle, and pours forth the liquid waters with the com- 
mingled nectar. 39 And lo ! if any one used to shiver at the 
northern blast, let him now be glad ; a milder breeze is coming 
from the Zephyrs. 40 

Caenina were small towns of Latiura, in the neighbourhood of Rome Ro- 
mulus slew Acron, king of Caenina, and thereby gained the first ' spolia 
opima.' At Cures Numa was born. 

34 Each region.'] — Ver. 136. The limits of his empire at his death were, 
the Atlantic ocean and the Euphrates, on the west and east ; the Danube 
and the Rhine on the north; and the cataracts of the Nile and Mount 
Atlas on the south ; they included nearly all the then known world. 

35 To be virtuous."] — Ver. 139. On the absence of their husbands for 
a certain time, the Roman women were at liberty to marry again. This 
right degenerated into a source of licentiousness and infidelity, whereupon 
Augustus by law restricted it. To this, probably, allusion is here made. 

38 Chief citizen.] — Ver. 142. The name ' Dominus,' here translated 
4 master/ comes from ' domo,' ' to govern,' as a master ruled his slaves. 
According to Suetonius, Augustus would not be called by a title which re- 
presented him as the slave-master of the Roman people, and was on one 
occasion highly offended on being saluted in the theatre by that name. 
' Princeps,' the chief,' was the title which the senate conferred on him as 
being entitled to the first place there. 

37 Thy sire.] — Ver. 142. Mars. Julius Caesar, the father of Augustus 
by adoption, was deified by him. 

38 Id<zan youth.] — Ver. 145. The cosmical rising of the constellation 
Aquarius. Ganymede, son of Tros, king of Troy, while hunting on Mount 
Ida, was seized by the eagle of Jupiter, and carried to heaven. He took the 
place of Hebe, as cup-bearer to the gods, and was afterwards enrolled among 
the signs of the zodiac under the name of ' Aquarius,' the ' water-bearer.' 

39 Nectar.] — Ver. 146. Nectar was the peculiar beverage of the gods, 
as 'ambrosia' was their food. 

40 Zephyrs.] — Ver. 148. The zephyr, or Favonius, was the western 
wind, which announced the opening of spring. 



54 THE FASTI; [b. n. 149— 176. 

The fifth light-bearing morn has raised his glittering beam 
from the waves of the ocean, and the hours of early spring are 
at hand; but be not deceived ; the cold still remains, yes, too 
true, it remains, and winter while departing has left its deep 
traces behind. 

Be the third night of the Ides now arrived, then forthwith 
you will see that the keeper of the Bear 41 has put forth his 
two feet. Among the Hamadryads 42 and Diana the thrower 
of the javelin, Callisto was one of the sacred company. 
Laying her hand on the bow 43 of the Goddess, she says, " Be 
this bow which I touch the witness of my vow of virginity." 
Cynthia praised her, and said, " only keep thy pledged contract, 
and then thou shalt be the chief of my companions." Had 
she not been beautiful, she would have kept her compact. 
She was on her guard against mortals ; from Jove it is that 
she incurred her guilt. Having hunted in the woods a thou- 
sand beasts of chase, Phoebe was on her return, while the 
sun was in its midday course, or still further advanced. When 
she reached the sacred grove — (the grove was thick with many 
an holm-oak, and in the midst there was a pond of ice cold 
water). " In this wood," said she, " maid of Tegeaea, 44 let us 
bathe." At the untrue name of 'maid* the other blushed. 
She said the same also to her Nymphs ; whereon the Nymphs 
put off their garments. Callisto is ashamed, and gives un- 
happy proofs of a purposed tardiness and delay. She had 
stripped off her robes ; convicted by the size of her person, 
she is betrayed by the evidence of her burden. To whom, the 
Goddess, " Forsworn daughter of Lycaon! quit the virgin troop 
and defile not these chaste waters." Ten times had the moon 
completed her orb between her horns, and she, who had been 

41 Keeper of the Bear.'] — Ver. 153. The achronycal rising of Bootes 
on the llth of February. Bootes, or Arctophylax, the Bearward, was the 
constellation into which Areas, the son of Jupiter and Callisto, as here 
mentioned, was changed. 

42 Hamadryads J] — Ver. 155. These were nymphs who presided over 
individual trees, with which they were said to live and die. Their name 
was derived from the Greek lifia, 'together,' and dpvg, 'an oak/ 

43 On the bow.~\ — Ver. 157. With the ancients it was the usage to 
touch any thing they swore by. Thus Hannibal touched the altar when he 
vowed eternal enmity against Rome. See Livy, book 21, c. 1; and Cor- 
nelius Nepos, in his Life of Hannibal. 

44 Maid of Tegeaa.'] — Ver. 167. Callisto being the daughter of Lycaon, 
king of Arcadia, of which country Tegesea was a town. 



B. II. 176—202.] OR, CALEKDAK OF OVID. 55 

supposed a maid, was now a mother. Offended Juno is filled 
with rage, and changes the form of the damsel. Goddess ! 
what art thou doing ? It was with reluctant spirit that she 
received the embrace of Jupiter. And when she beheld the 
hideous face of a wild beast in the former favourite, " Let 
Jupiter," says she, "now rush into her embraces." A 
frightful she-bear, she roamed along the wild mountains, she 
who had lately been an object of love to almighty Jove. Just 
three times five years had the boy, conceived in secret, now 
passed, when the mother was thrown in the way of her son. 
Infatuated she stood still, as though she would recognize him, 
and moaned : that moan was the address of a parent. The 
boy unknowing would have pierced her with his sharp javelin, 
had not each been snatched away to the mansions above. As 
neighbouring Constellations they now shine ; the first one 
is she whom we call the ' Bear ; ' the ' Bear- ward ' has the 
attitude of one following her behind. Still is the daughter 
of Saturn incensed, and requests the hoary Tethys 45 not to 
lave the Msenalian Bear by the contact of the waters*. 

On the Ides the altars of the rustic Faunus 46 smoke, here 
where the island breaks the parted waters. This was that 
day on which, on the plains of Veii, three hundred and six 
Fabii 47 fell. One house had taken upon itself the strength 
and burden of the whole city ; the hands of one family take 
up arms volunteered by them ; each goes forth a high-born 
soldier from that camp out of which each one was fitted to go 
forth a general. The nearest route is by the right-hand side 
passage 48 of the gate of Carmenta. Whoever you are, pass 

45 Tethys. 1 — Ver. 191. Tethys was one of the most ancient deities. 
She was the wife of Oceanus, daughter of Ccelus and Vesta, and the foster- 
mother of Juno. 

46 Faunus.']— Ver. 193. The 'Insula sacra,' on the Tiber, contained the 
temple of Faunus, as also those of Jupiter and iEsculapius. It was built 
by the^Ediles, a.u.c. 509. 

47 Fabii.']— Ver. 196. Ovid places this event on the 15th of February. 
Livy, book 6, c. 1, places it on the 18th of July. 

43 Right-hand side passage.] — Ver. 201. 'Dextro — Jano.' It has been 
already mentioned, that the janus was the arched or covered passage of a 
gateway. Many of those at Rome had two passages for the convenience 
of people passing each way— similar to the plan of our Thames Tunnel. 
After this day no one went out by the passage through which the Fabii 
had passed. The way was called the 'via scelerata,' or 'infelix,' the 'ac- 
cursed,' or 'unlucky way.' 



56 THE FASTI ; . [b. ii. 202—233. 

not through it ; it has an evil omen. Tradition says, that by 
that gate the three hundred Fabii went forth. The gate is free 
from blame, but yet it has a had omen. When with rapid step 
they reached the swiftly rolling Cremera, 49 (it was flowing 
swollen by the rains of the winter) ; they pitch their camp on 
the plain ; they themselves, with drawn swords, rush through 
the Tuscan lines with vigorous onset. Just as when, from the 
Libyan 50 crag, the lions rush upon the flocks scattered through- 
out the wide fields. The enemy fly in all directions, and on their 
backs receive disgraceful wounds ; the earth- is reddened with 
Etrurian blood. Once more, and again they fall. When it is 
not possible for them to conquer in open fight, they prepare 
a stratagem, and the resources of ambush. There was a plain ; 
hills, and a forest well fitted to harbour the wild beasts of 
the mountain, shut in the extremities of it. In the midst of 
this plain they leave a few men, and the herds scattered here 
and there ; the rest of the troops lie hid, concealed in the un- 
derwood. Lo ! as a torrent, swollen by a deluge of rain, or 
by the snow which flows melted by the warmth of the Zephyr, 
is borne over the sown fields and the highways, and no longer, 
as it was wont, confines its current bounded by the margin of 
its banks ; so do the Fabii fill the valley with their straggling 
sallies, aiidthe few they see they despise ; they have no appre- 
hension from any other quarter. Whither rush ye, noble 
house ? It is unsafe to trust a foe, unsuspecting nobles, 
beware of the weapons of treachery — valour perishes by strat- 
agem ; from every part the enemy springs forth into the open 
plain, and encompasses every side. What can a few brave 
men do against so many thousands ? or what expedient have 
they that they can avail themselves of in the moment of dis- 
tress? As the wild boar chased in the Laurentine 51 woods 
afar scatters with his tusk like the lightning the swift 
hounds, yet soon he dies himself; so do they perish, but 

49 Cremera.]— Ver. 205. A Tuscan river, falling into the Tiber a little 
to the north of Rome, and not far from Veii. 

50 Libyan.'] — Ver. 209. Mauritania, a district of Libya, in Africa, was 
remarkable for the fierceness and voracity of its lions. 

51 Laurentine.'] — Ver. 231. Laurentum was a town of Latium, supposed 
to be the residence of the ancient kings, Picus, Faunus, and Latinus. Its 
name was derived from a grove of bay-trees, 'lauri,' between Ostia and An- 
tium. It was remarkable for its breed of boars. 



b. ii. 233—258.] OR, CALENDAR OF OTID. 53 

not unavenged ; and they deal and suffer wounds with mutual 
blows. 

One day had sent forth to battle all the Fabii ; one day cut 
off those sent, yet it is worthy of belief that the Gods them- 
selves provided that there should survive some seed of the 
house of Hercules. 52 For a boy of tender years 53 and unser- 
viceable for war alone of the Fabian house had been left be- 
hind ; doubtless to the end that thou Fabius Maximus 54 mightest 
in future times be born ; by whom, through procrastination, 
the republic might be preserved. 

Contiguous in position are three Constellations, 55 the Raven, 
and the Snake, and the Goblet, that lies between them both. 
On the Ides they are hidden, they rise on the following night ; 
I will sing why the three are thus connected together. 

It happened that Phoebus was preparing a solemn festival 
for Jupiter (my story shall cause no very long delay). " Go, 
my bird," 56 said he, ' ' that nothing may retard my rites of duty, 
and bring a little water from the gushing fountains." The raven 
lifts with his hooked claws a gilded goblet, 57 and wings on 
high his aerial route. There stood a fig-tree loaded with fruit, 
still hard and unripe. He tries it with his beak — the fruit 
was not fit to be gathered. Heedless of his commands, he is 
said to have sat down beneath that tree, until in the slowly 
passing lapse of time the fruit became sweet. And at 
last, having satiated his appetite, he seizes in his black claws a 
long water-snake, and then returns to his master and makes a 

52 Hercules.~\ — Ver. 237. It was a tradition, that the Fabii were de- 
scended from Hercules, by a daughter of Evander. 

53 Of tender years.'] — Ver. 239. Niebuhr, in his Roman History, book 2, 
says that the Fabius who remained at home must have then been a grown 
man. He gives a political solution of the whole story. 

54 Fabius Maocimus.] — Ver. 241. From the single survivor sprang 
Q. Fabius Maximus, who, in the second Punic war, after the defeat of the 
consul Flaminius at Lake Thrasymenus, was appointed pro-dictator. By 
counter-marches and ambuscades he harassed and weakened the army of 
Hannibal, and eventually saved Rome. Hence he was called 'the Delayer,' 
' Cunctator.' 

55 Three Constellations.'] — Ver. 243. He gives the achronycal rising of 
these three constellations on the 14th of February. 

55 My bird.] — Ver. 249. The poets considered the crow sacred to 
Apollo on account of its supposed efficacy in augury and divination. 
67 A gilded goblet.] — Ver. 251-2. Gower translates these lines thus — 
1 The golden tanker in his claws the crow 
Takes, and through air with waving wings doth row.' 



58 THE FASTI; [b. n. 258— 282. 

feigned excuse. " This creature was the cause of my delay, 
watching at the running stream ; 'tis he that withheld the 
waters and the fulfilment of my task." Phoebus answers, 
" Dost thou add to thy fault a lie, and darest thou by thy 
stories to attempt to impose upon the God of oracles 1 
And now so long as the green fig shall be firm 58 on the tree, 
be no cooling water drunk by thee from any spring." He 
spoke, and as a lasting memorial of this ancient affair, the 
Snake, the Bird, and the Goblet glitter as contiguous Constel- 
lations. 

The third dawn after the Ides beholds the naked Luperci, 
and the sacred rites of the two-horned Faunus 59 will pro- 
ceed. Tell, ye Pierian maids, what is the origin of these rites, 
and whence derived they reached the abodes of Latium. The 
ancient Arcadians are said to have worshipped Pan as God of 
cattle ; he most frequents the Arcadian mountains. Pholoe 60 
will attest it, the streams of Stymphalus, and Ladon, which 
with rapid current flows into the sea, will attest it, and 
the ridges of the forest of Nonacris encircled with groves 
of pine, and the lofty Cyllene and the snows of Parrhasia. 
Pan was the guardian of the herd, Pan, the God of the 
mares ; he used to receive offerings for the preservation of the 
sheep. Evander brought over with him the woodland divinities. 
Here, where now the City stands, was then but the city's 
site. Thence do we reverence this God, and the rites imported 
from the Pelasgians. 61 By ancient usage the Flamen Dialis 

58 Shall be firm.'] — Ver. 263. 'Lactens' is literally 'waxing full of 
milk.' 'Lac/ 'milk,' was the name given to the juice of the unripe fig, 
while it is yet in a hard state. 

39 Faunus.] — Ver. 267. He was one of the ancient kings of Latium, 
and being deified, in time became confounded with the Arcadian deity Pan. 
As Pan was attended by numerous minor Pans, so there were numerous 
Fauni. 

60 Pholoe.] — Ver. 273. 'Pholoe/ and the several places here men- 
tioned, were in Arcadia. Pholoe was a mountain ; Stymphalus was the name 
of a city and a lake there, whence Hercules, as his sixth labour, chased 
the Stymphalian birds, and slew them. The river Ladon falls into the 
Alpheus, and not into the sea ; it was remarkable for the excellent 
quality of its water. Nonacris was a town of Arcadia, near which was 
the river Styx, whose waters were so pestilential that they could be carried 
in no vessel whatever, except one made of the hoof of a mule. Cyllene 
was a mountain of Arcadia. Parrhasia was a town of the same countiy. 

61 Pelasgians.] — Ver. 281. The Arcadians were generally deemed to be 
of the Pelasgian race, who seem to have been the aborigines of Greece. 



b. ii. 282—308.] OK, CALE^DAE OF OYID. 59 

attended these sacrifices. You ask, then, why they run and 
why (for thus to run is their practice,) they have their bodies 
naked, having stripped off their garments. The fleet God 
himself loves to run at large on the lofty hills, and starts on a 
sudden the scared wild beasts. The God, naked himself, com- 
mands his attendants 62 to go naked ; for dress was not very 
convenient for running. The Arcadians are said to have 
tenanted the earth before the birth of Jupiter, and that nation 
existed before the moon. Their mode of life was like that of 
the beasts of the field, spent amid no comforts ; they were still a 
multitude unskilled in arts and uncivilized . For habitations, they 
knew of the boughs of trees alone, for corn the blades of 
grass ; water taken up with their two palms was nectar to them. 
No steer then panted under the crooked plough ; no land 
was then under the control of the husbandmen. As yet 
the use of the horse 63 was not known ; each one carried 
himself ; the sheep then used to go clothed with its own 
fleece. They dwelt in the open air, and had their bodies 
naked, taught to endure the heavy showers and the southern 
blasts. Still do the naked priests recall to mind the vestiges 
of ancient usage, 64 and testify the humble resources of olden 
times. But there is a story told, full of old-fashioned hu- 
mour, why Faunus has a particular aversion to garments. 
It chanced that the Tirynthian youth was travelling in the 
company of his mistress, 65 Omphale. Faunus, from a lofty 
hill-top, saw them both. He saw, and caught the flame — c ye 
mountain Goddesses,' said he, ' farewell; this lady shall hence- 

62 Commands his attendants.] — Ver. 287. Gower gives this version, 

1 The god self-naked, naked makes his frie ; 
Clothes are a hindrance to agility.' 

63 Use of the horse.'] — Ver. 297. Bellerophon is said to have been the 
first to teach mankind the use of the horse. 

64 Ancient usage.] — Ver. 301-2. Gower translates these lines, 

1 Therefore they naked run, in sign and honor 
Of hardiness, and that old bare-skinn'd manner.' 

65 His mistress.] — Ver. 305. Hercules had been sold by Mercury, to serve 
as a slave for three years, to Omphale, queen of Lydia or Masonia, in order 
that the purchase-money might be paid to Eurytus,as a compensation for the 
loss of Iphytus, his son, who had been slain by Hercules. That he was 
taken into the especial favour of Omphale we may perceive from this story. 



60 THE PASTI ; [b. ii. 308—330. 

forth be my love. " 66 The Maeonian queen was walking on- 
ward, distinguished by her gold embroidered vestment, her 
perfumed tresses flowing over her shoulders. A golden screen 
repelled the scorching sunbeams, which yet the hands of 
Hercules, strong as they were, supported. And now had 
she reached the grove of Bacchus, the vineyards of Tmolus, 
and the dewy Hesperus was running his course on his 
dusky steed. 67 She enters a grotto whose roof was fretted 
with porous pebbles, and the natural pumice stone ; at its 
entrance ran a bubbling streamlet. And now while the at- 
tendants are preparing the repast, and the wine for them to 
quaff, she arrays Alcides in her own attire. She gives him 
her fine wrought gown, dyed with Gsetulian purple ; she gives 
him the net-work zone, with which just now she had been girt. 
The zone is too small for his girth ; she unlooses the laces 
of the gown, that he may get his huge hands through. Her 
armlets he had already broken, not made for such arms as 
those. His big feet 68 were bursting asunder the scanty ties of 
her sandals. She herself takes the ponderous club, and the 
spoil of the lion, and his lesser weapons stored in their quiver. 
In this dress they partake of the repast ; in this dress they 
resign their bodies to sleep, and lie apart upon couches placed 
closed to one another. The reason was, that they were about 
to prepare a pious sacrifice to the discoverer of the vine, which 
they ought to perform in a state of purity 69 when the day had 

66 Be my love.'] — Ver. 307-8. The quaint translation given by Gower 
of these two lines is, 

' He eyes and fries, and "country lasses" cries, 
None for my diet ; here my Cupid lies/ 

67 Dusky steed.~\ — Ver. 314. He has a dusky steed assigned him, as the 
sky on his approach becomes darker. For the opposite reason a white horse 
is assigned to Lucifer, the morning star. 

68 His big feet. ~] — Ver. 324. Gower's version of this line is, 

' His huge plaice-foot her pretty sandals rent/ 

The Gaetulian, or African purple, mentioned a few lines before, was proba- 
bly of inferior quality. Alcides was one of the epithets of Hercules, from 
the Greek word aXicrj, ' strength.' 

69 In a state of purity.] — Ver. 330. The sacrifice was to be to Bacchus, 
god of the vine. Sacrifices to the gods were expected to be performed by 
the attendant devotees in a state of perfect purity, and uncontaminated by 
a breach of chastity. Gower' s version of this and the preceding hue is — 

' Because, next day, some rites to Jove's wine son 
They should perform, which must be purely done.' 



B. ii. 330—357.] OB, CALENDAR OF OYID. f)l 

dawned. 'Twas midnight. What does not unscrupulous 
passion dare ? Amid the shades of the night, Faunus comes to 
the dewy grotto, and when he sees the attendants relaxed with 
sleep and wine, he conceives hopes that in their master and mis- 
tress there is the same drowsiness. He enters, and the daring 
ravisher wanders to this side and that, and stretches forth his 
cautious hands and follows their direction. And now he had 
come to the bedding of a spread couch which he had found by 
groping, and as he thought, was about to be successful in his first 
venture. When he touched the hide of the tawny lion all 
shaggy with its coarse hair, he was alarmed and withdrew his 
hand, and terrified he shuddered with fear ; as oft the tra- 
veller has withdrawn his startled foot on seeing a serpent. 
He next feels the soft coverings of the couch which was 
close by, and is deceived by the false indication. He climbs 
the bed, and lies down on the side nearest to him. His 
passions are at the highest pitch — meantime he draws up the 
bed-clothes from the bottom ; the legs he finds are all brist- 
ling, rough with thick hair. The Tyrinthian hero flings him 
back 70 with his arm^'i^ as he is making further attempts ; he 
tumbles from the top of the couch. An uproar is the con- 
sequence, the Mseonian queen summons her attendants aloud, 
and calls for lights ; 71 the lights being brought, the transac- 
tion is discovered. Faunus is groaning aloud, tumbled vio- 
lently from the lofty couch, and with difficulty he raises his 
limbs from the hard ground. Both Alcides laughs, and those 
who see him lie sprawling ; the Lydian damsel laughs too at 
her gallant. The God, thus deceived through a dress, thence- 

70 Flings him back.'] — Ver. 349-50. Gower translates this and the fol- 
lowing lines — 

* Attempting more, Alcides from the couch 
Throws him quite off. Down lumps the lustful slouch. 
Maeonia at the noise for lights doth cry, 
Which, brought there, make a strange discovery. 
He, with his fall much bruised, grones and mones, 
And, much ado, heaves up his heavy bones. 
Alcides laugh' d, and all at that night-rover, 
And Omphale laughs at her goodly lover/ 

71 Calls for lights.'] — Ver. 351. The servants, who slept just outside of 
the chamber of their master or mistress, usually kept a lamp burning ; 
therefore the light was brought even before Faunus could rise from the 
floor. 



62 THE FASTI ; [b. ii. 357—381. 

forth hates garments that impose upon the sight, and sum- 
mons his officials to his rites in a state of nakedness. To 
these causes imported from afar, add, my Muse, the Latin ones, 
and let my courser now pace his native dust. 

A she-goat being slain, according to custom, to the horny- 
footed Faunus, a crowd came by invitation to the scanty 
repast, and while the priests were making ready the entrails 
transfixed with spits of willow, the sun now reaching his mid 
course, Romulus and his brother, and the shepherd youth, 
were exposing their naked bodies to the sun and the dust of 
the plain. 72 They gave exercise to their arms in sport with 
the boxing-gloves, 73 and the javelin, and the weight of the cast- 
ing stone. A shepherd from an eminence exclaimed — " Romu- 
lus ! the robbers are driving away the oxen through the 
sequestered fields ; to the rescue !" 'Twould take too long a 
time to put on arms ; each rushes forth in a different direc- 
tion : by the spear of Remus the spoil was recovered. As 
soon as he returned, he takes off from the spits the hissing 
entrails, and says, " These, in truth, none but a conqueror 
shall eat." As he says he does, and so do the Fabii. Ro- 
mulus arrives there too late, and sees nothing but the board 
and the picked bones. He smiled, but was annoyed that the 
Fabii and Remus had been able to gain a victory, and that his 
own Quinctilii 74 could not. The fame of the transaction still 
abides with us ; they still run without a garment, and be- 
cause the result was favourable, it has a lasting celebrity. 

Perhaps too, you may ask, why that place is called the 

72 The 'plain.'] — Ver. 366. Probably the 'Campus Martius/ or ' field 
of Mars,' which was a plain of great extent, near the Tiber, where the 
Romans used to exercise. It was the private property of the Tarquins, 
and on their expulsion was consecrated to Mars, as the patron of warlike 
exercises. 

75 The boxing-gloves.'] — Ver. 367. This is the nearest translation that 
can be given to the word ' caestus,' which were coverings of leather for the 
hand, with lead or iron sewed on them to render the weight of the blow 
more effective. On the other hand, with us, the boxing-glove is used for 
the opposite purpose, to diminish the weight of the blow. The casting- 
stone was thrown either from the hand or the sling. It does not appear 
which, in this instance. 

74 His own Quinctilii.] — Ver. 378. The Fabii are said to have been 
the companions of Remus, and the Quinctilii, the associates of Romulus. 
The Fabii were of Sabine origin, while the Quinctilii were a Roman 
family. 



b. u. 381—398.1 OE, CALENDAR OE OYID. 63 

' Lupercal,' or what reason marks the day with a similar 
name. The Yestal Ilia 75 had given birth to her heavenly 
progeny, while her uncle held the sovereign sway. He orders 
the children to be taken away and to be drowned in the river. 
What art thou doing ? one or other of these will be Romulus 
hereafter. His servants with reluctance perform his cruel 
commands : they weep and bear the twins to the commanded 
place. Albula, 76 that stream, whose name, Tiberinus drowned 
in its waters, changed into that of Tiber, by chance was swollen 
by the floods of winter. Here, where the market-places 77 now 
are, you might see boats wandering about ; where, too, thy 
valley now lies, Circus Maximus. 78 When they had come 
hither, and could advance no further, first one and then the 
other of them says, " And see how like they are ! and how 
lovely is each ! yet of the two that one has more life in him. 
If origin is to be indicated by looks, if the likeness deceives me 
not, I suspect some God (whom, I know not) to be your father. 

75 The vestal Ilia. — Ver. 383. Ilia, or Rhea Silvia, whose story is told 
more at length in the next book, was the daughter of Numitor, king of 
Alba Longa. In order that she might not, by becoming a mother, endanger 
the sovereignty of Amulius, her uncle, who had usurped the throne and 
banished his brother, he devoted her to the service of Vesta, and, in con- 
sequence, to perpetual chastity. Mars having become enamoured of her, 
she conceived twins by him, whose history is here told, and is repeated in 
the next book. She was buried alive; the punishment invariably inflicted 
on Vestal virgins when convicted of a violation of their vow of chastity. 

76 Albula.'] — Ver. 389. This was anciently the name of the Tiber. 
'Albus' is the Latin for ' white/ and the river was so called from the white- 
ness of its waters. It was called Tiber after Tiberinus Sylvius, the suc- 
cessor of Capetius, king of Alba, and who was drowned in its stream. 

77 Market-places. ~\ — Ver. 391. There were two kinds of ' fora' at 
Rome — the ' forum' for litigation and process at law, and the ' forum/ or 
'market-place/ such as the 'forum boarum/ or ' cattle-market ; ' 'piscarium/ 
or ' fish-market ; ' 'olitorium/ or 'herb-market ; ' 'suarium/ or 'pig-market/ 

78 O Circus Maximus. ,] — Ver. 392. This, ' the Greatest Circus/ was 
originally built by Tarquinius Priscus, and was situate in a prolonged 
valley between the Palatine and Aventine Hills; It was a mile in circum- 
ference, and received great improvements from Julius Csesar. It was able 
to contain at least 150,000 persons ; Pliny says 250,000 ; perhaps the former 
number when sitting, the latter when standing. There the public games 
and shews were celebrated, which formed the favourite recreation of the 
Romans of all classes. It was called ' Maximus/ ' greatest/ because there 
were several other ' circi' at Rome, as the Circus Flaminius, Circus Vati- 
canus, and others were built in later times by Nero, Caracalla, and other 
emperors. 



64 THE FASTI ; [b. ii. 399—422. 

But if any God really was the author of your birth, he would 
surely bring you aid at so perilous a moment. Your mother 
for certain would bring you aid, were she not herself in need 
of help, who in one day has become a mother and has been 
made childless. Babes ! born together, together to die ! sink 
together beneath the waters." He had ceased speaking, and 
laid them down, having frst taken them from his bosom. The 
infants screamed with a similar cry ; you would imagine that 
they were conscious of their fate. With tearful cheeks the 
servants return to their homes. A hollowed ark 78 bears them 
placed therein on the surface of the stream, Ah ! what a weight 
of destiny did that one slight plank support ! The ark driven 
by the breeze into the shady woods settles in the slime as the 
river subsides by degrees. There was a tree, the remains of 
n are still in existence ; and that which is now called the 
Ruminal, 79 was once the Romulan fig-tree. Wondrous to relate, 
a she-wolf that had just brought forth came to the twins thus 
exposed ; who would believe that the wild beast did not hurt 
the babes ? To do them no injury is not enough for her, 
she even aids them ; and those, whom a she-wolf is nourish- 
ing, the hands of a relation could brook to destroy. She 
stands still, and with her tail she fawns upon her tender foster- 
lings, and with her tongue forms their two bodies into shape. 
You might know that they were begotten by Mars ; they have 
no fear ; they draw her udder, and are nourished by the aid 
of milk not destined for them by nature. She gave a name to 
the place — the place 80 to the Luperci. The nurse has a high 

78 A hollowed ar&.]— Ver. 407. ' Alveus' is 'a hollow wooden vessel/ 
or * a tub.' It may here mean an ark which the servant had provided for 
the purpose ; or more probably the wooden cradle in which the children 
had been laid, and which, with the view of giving them a chance of safety, 
he purposely set afloat, instead of drowning them, as he had been ordered. 

" 9 Ruminal. .] — Ver. 412. The author supposes this word to be a cor- 
ruption from ' Romula,' which derivation is unworthy of attention. It is, 
with much more probability, supposed to have been so named from 
'rumis,' or 'ruma/ the ancient name for the breast, from the infants 
having been there suckled by the wolf. According to some, it took its 
name from ' rumen/ the ' throat/ because under this tree the cattle used 
to chew the cud, or ruminate. Tacitus tells us that the tree, in his time, 
was still standing in the Comitium. Others say that the tree referred to 
by him was planted by Attius Nsevius. Perhaps it was propagated from 
the one under which the infants were said to have been found. 

80 The place.'] — Ver. 421. The Lupercal, where Pan was worshipped, 



B, II. 422—447.] OX, CALENDAR OF OYTD. 65 

reward for the milk she gave. What prevents that the Lu- 
perci should derive their name from the Arcadian mountain ? 

The Lycsean Faunus has his temple in Arcadia. Bride newly 
made, what dost thou await ? not by potent herbs, not by 
prayers, not by the magic incantation — wilt thou become a 
mother ; with patience await the blows of the right hand that 
fructifies ; soon shall thy father-in-law have the wished-for 
epithet of grandfather. 81 For it was that period, when by a 
cruel fate the matrons were affording but few pledges of their 
fruitfulness. " What avails it me," exclaimed Romulus, " to 
have carried off the Sabine women (this took place while he 
held the sceptre) if my violence has produced for me, not 
strength, but only war in return ; it had been better for me to 
have had no daughters-in-law at such a price. At the base of 
the Esquilian hill, there was a grove, uncut for many a year, 
and called by the name of the mighty Juno. When they 
came thither, both the matrons and the men with bent knees 
prostrated themselves in supplication. Then lo ! suddenly 
the tops of the shaken wood trembled, and the Goddess uttered 
these wondrous words through her sacred grove, "Let a sacred 
he-goat have access to the Italian matrons." The multitude, 
alarmed by this ambiguous oracle, was confounded. There was 
an augur, whose name has been lost in the lengthened lapse 
of years ; he had lately come an exile from the Etrurian soil. " 
He sacrifices a he-goat. The matrons at his bidding sub- 
mitted their backs to be smitten by the hide that had been 
cut into thongs. The moon was resuming her new horns 

the author here says was so called from ' lupa/ a she-wolf/ and gave its 
name to the ' Luperci,' the priests of Pan. It was a cave in the Palatine 
Hill, and is said to have been consecrated to the worship of Pan by 
Evander. He also suggests that the Lupercal may have been so called 
from the name ; Lycseus/ which Pan derived from Mount Lycaeum, in 
Arcadia, which name being Avkcuov, meaning 'of,' or ' infested by wolves,' 
would be rendered in Latin by ' Lupercum,' a word of similar import. Per- 
haps the festival was so called from the words ' luo/ to sacrifice or l expiate/ 
and ' caper/ a ' he-goat/ as a goat was sacrificed to Pan on this occasion. 
81 Grandfather.'] — Ver. 427-8. Gower's version of these lines is — 

1 Take patiently stripes from the fruitful hand ; 
Thy father then shall be a father grand/ 

ffi The Etrurian soil.] — Ver. 444. Etruria was the country which sup- 
plied Rome both with rites and priests in the earlier ages, and was espe- 
cially renowned for its skill in the arts of augury and divination. 

P 



82 



66 THE FASTI ; [b. II. 447—465. 

in her tenth course from that time, and suddenly the husband 
became a father, the wife a mother. Thanks were given to 
Lucina ; 83 this epithet the grove gave to thee, Goddess ; or it 
was because thou hast under thy care our introduction to the 
light. Spare, I pray, gentle Lucina, the pregnant females, and 
without pain bring forth from the womb its matured burden. 

The next day has now dawned ; do thou cease to rely on the 
winds ; the gales at this season of the year are not to be trusted. 
The breezes are unsteady ; and for six days the loosened gate 
of the prison of iEolus 64 all unbolted stands wide open. 

Now, lightened of his burden, the Waterbearer has sunk 
on his knee, with his urn obliquely sloped ; be thou, the Fish, 
the next to receive the heavenly steeds. They say that 
thou and thy brother 85 (for ye glitter as contiguous con- 
stellations) bore on your backs two gods. Once on a time, 
Dione 86 flying from the frightful Typhon, at that period when 
Jupiter bore arms in defence of heaven, accompanied by the 
infant Cupid, came to the Euphrates, and sat on the margin 
of the river of Palestine . 87 The poplar and the reeds clothed 
the top of the banks, and the willows afforded a hope that 

JwVCO 

83 Lucina.']— Ver. 449. A title of iSiaia, as presiding over the birth of 
mortals, derived from the Latin ' lux/ lucis, ' light,' or from « lucus,' ' a 
grove,' the place of her worship, as the poet explains in this and the next 
line. 

84 Prison of jEoIus.] — Ver. 456. JEolus was the son of Jupiter and 
Acesta, or Sergesta, daughter of Hippotas, a Trojan. He was king of 
Lipara and the adjacent islands (called from him iEolian), near Italy and 
Sicily. Strongyle, now Stromboli, was one of these. It was a volcanic 
mountain, and, as it was believed that the inhabitants could tell from its 
smoke, three days before, what wind would blow, the fable became current 
that iEolus was the god of the winds, and that he held them imprisoned in 
his dominions. 

85 Thy brother.'] — Ver. 458. The one looking towards the north was 
called ' Boreus,' and was situated under the arm of Andromeda. The one 
looking towards the south was called ' Notius,' and was below the shoulder 
of the constellation Equus. 

86 Dione.] — Ver. 461. According to Homer, this goddess was the 
mother of Venus ; but the poet, by here introducing her in company with 
Cupid, evidently confounds her with that goddess. Typhon, or Typhaeus, 
has been noticed in the note to line 523 of the first book. According to 
Hyginus, Typhon did present himself, whereon Venus and her son were 
turned into fishes. 

8 ' Palestine.] — Ver. 464. Palestine was only a small portion of Syria, 
of which the river Euphrates formed the eastern boundary. 



B. II. 465—489.] OB, CALENDAR QT OTID. 67 

by them they might be concealed. While she is in her place 
of concealment, the grove roars with the blast; she turns 
pale with terror, and fancies that the forces of the enemy 88 are 
at hand. And as she clasps her son to her bosom, she says, 
"Assist, ye nymphs, and give aid to us two Divinities." Im- 
mediately, she plunged into the stream. Two fishes bore 
them up ; for which they now have Constellations as a merited 
reward. In consequence, the superstitious Syrians deem it 
impious to place this kind of animal on their tables, nor do 
they profane their lips with fish. S9 

The next day is without any mark of distinction ; but the 
one after it has been consecrated to Quirinus. He who now 
bears this name was formerly Romulus ; either because by the 
ancient Sabines a spear was called 6 curis ' (from his spear 
the warrior God came to the stars), or because the Quirites 
gave their own name to their king, or because he had joined 
the Curians 90 to the Roman people. For his father that 
bears sway over all arms, after he beheld the new walls, and 
many a war finished by the hand of Romulus, said, "0 Jupiter, 
the Roman power has strength of its own, and needs not the 
service of my offspring. Restore the son to the father; 
though one is cut off, he that remains shall be to me in place 
of Remus and himself. Thou didst tell me that there shall 
be one, whom thou wilt raise to the azure vault of heaven : 
let the words of Jove be fulfilled." Jupiter nodded assent ; 

88 Forces of the enemy. ,] — Ver. 468. ' Hostiles maims' may mean either 
the troops or forces of the giants, who were aiding their kinsman in the 
giant war, or 'the hands of her enemy' himself. In the latter case the trans- 
lation would he, ' fancies that the hands of her enemy are even now upon her.' 

89 Profane their lips.~\ — Ver. 473-4. The Syrians had a notion that 
swelling of the body and ulceration would he the consequence of eating 
fish, and this was perhaps the true reason of their abstinence from that 
diet. They offered either fish or representations of them in metal to the 
goddess, Atergatis, who was their deity corresponding to Venus. Gower 
thus translates these lines — 

1 Hence Syrians hate to eat that kind of fishes ; 
Nor is it fit to make their gods their dishes.' 

90 The Curians.'] — Ver. 480. When Romulus agreed with Tatius, 
king of the town of Cures, to incorporate his subjects into the Roman 
state, it was settled that the Romans should be called ' Curites,' or 
* Quirites,' in honour of their new associates, the Curites or Curians, as 
well as ' Romani,' from the name of Romulus. 

3T2 



68 THE FASTI ; [b. ii. 489—505. 

at his nod either pole was shaken, and Atlas 91 felt the press- 
ing weight of the heavens. There is a place ; the people of 
old called it the fen of Caprea ; 92 it chanced that there, 
Romulus, thou wast dispensing justice to thy subjects. The 
sun vanishes, the intervening clouds conceal the sky, and 
the heavy shower descends with pouring torrents. It thun- 
ders, and the heavens are rent asunder with the sent forth 
lightnings. The people disperse in flight, the while the mo- 
narch on the steeds of his sire is speeding to the stars. 
There was mourning, and the senate was under a charge of 
murder falsely imputed to it: and possibly that persuasion 
might have remained fixed in the minds of men. But Julius 
Proculus 93 was on his way from Alba Longa ; 94 the moon was 
shining, and there was no need of a torch, when, with a sudden 
peal, the clouds thundered on his left hand. He started back, 
and his hair stood on an end with terror. 95 Romulus, graceful, 
and larger than the human size, arrayed too in his kingly 
robe, seemed to stand before him in the middle of the way, 
and at the same time to say, " Forbid the Quirites to lament, 

91 Atlas."] — Ver. 490. He was the son of Jupiter, and was the father of 
the Pleiades, who were placed by Jupiter among the constellations. He is 
also said to have been the father of the Hyades, who received a similar 
honour. Atlas was the name of a mountain in the country of Mauritania, 
in Africa, so high that its summit was not visible; hence the fable, that a 
king of that region supported the heavens. The most probable solution of 
the fable, is that he was an astronomer of Libya, who frequented that 
mountain for the purpose of making astronomical observations. 

92 The fen of Caprea'] — Ver. 491. This ' fen of Caprea,' or ' Capra,' 
the i she-goat,' was a marsh near Rome, in the Campus Martius. Romulus 
is said to have been promulgating the laws or reviewing his army here 
when he was translated. Some accounts represent him as having been 
assassinated while holding the senate in the Temple of Vulcan. 

93 Julius Proculus.] — Ver. 499. Dionysius says that he was a citizen 
cf Alba Longa. 

94 Alba Longa.] — Ver. 499. This was originally a colony from Lavi- 
nium, in Latium, and was founded by Ascanius, the son of iEneas, at the 
foot of the Alban Mount. It was so named from the discovery in that 
spot, of a white sow and her litter, as obscurely foretold by Helenus in 
his prophecy, mentioned in the iEneid, Book 3, 1. 389. From its length 
it was called Longa. It was destroyed, with the exception of its temple, 
by Tuilus Hostilius, who removed its inhabitants to Rome. 

9 5 With terror.] — Ver. 501-2. Gower's translation of this passage is, 

' Lo ! suddenly the left-hand hedges quake ; 
He with his hairs turned bolt upright starts back/ 



B. II. 506—527.] OK, CALENDAR OF OVID. 69 

and let them not offend my Godhead with their tears. Let 
them offer me frankincense, and let the pious multitude pay 
adoration to Quirinus, their new God, and let them practise my 
father's arts and warfare." He gave these commands, and 
vanished into the thin air. Proculus calls the two peoples 
together, and reports to them the words enjoined upon him. 
A temple is raised to the Divinity ; the hill too 96 is named 
from him, and appointed days 97 bring back the religious 
services of the Roman father. 

Why the same day is also called the festival of fools, 98 now 
learn ; a reason, trilling indeed, but still appropriate, is sug- 
gested. The earth in ancient times had no experienced hus- 
bandmen ; the toils of war used to weary the active men of those 
days. There was more of glory in the use of the sword than of 
the curved plough ; neglected by its owner, the fields used, to 
bear but little. Yet did the ancients sow the spelt, and reaped 
it, and gave the same when cut down, to Ceres as the first-fruits. 
Taught by experience they exposed it to the flames to be parched, 
and by their mistakes they suffered many a loss. For sometimes, 
they used to sweep up smutty ashes instead of grain ; some- 
times the flames set fire to their cottages. Fornax, the Goddess 
of the Kiln, 99 was deified ; pleased with Fornax as a Goddess, 
the husbandmen pray that she will moderate the heat to the 
grain while parching. Still does the chief Curio 1 appoint the 

95 The hill too.']— Ver. 511. The Quirinal hill. But Festus supposes 
it to have derived its name from the Sabines of the town of Cures, who 
settled there and on the Capitoline hill. Niebuhr thinks there was a town 
on it called 'Quirium,' whence the name 'Quirites,' at first peculiar to 
the Sabine people. 

97 Appointed days.] — Ver. 512. The Quirinalia were stativse, or 'set' 
festivals. 

98 The festival of fools.]— Yer. 513. 'Stultorum festa/ or 'Ferias.' This 
was another name of the Quirinalia, because those who from want of time, 
or being on a journey, or, as the poet says further on, who were unable to 
learn the time when their own Curia performed the rites, and had not sacri- 
ficed with the rest of the people on the Fornacalia, did so on the Quiri- 
nalia, which was the last day for that purpose. 

99 Goddess of the Kiln.]— Yer. 525. Pliny (Nat. Hist. Book 18) says 
that Numa deified the goddess Fornax. He says, 'Numa taught his people 
to propitiate the gods with the produce of the earth, to offer the salt cakes, 
and to parch the spelt, as when parched it was more wholesome for food. 
He also instituted the Fornacalia.' 

1 Curio.] — Ver. 527. Romulus divided the people into three tribes, and 
each tribe into ten 'curise.' Each 'curia* had a temple of its own for the 



rO THE FASTI; [b. n. 528— 544. 

festivals of Fornax in form prescribed by law, but offers no 
sacrifices at a fixed period : and in the Forum, where many a 
tablet 2 is suspended around, each ward is denoted by a certain 
mark. The foolish part of the people do not know which is 
their own ward, but perform a repetition of the sacrifice on 
the last day. 

Honour also is paid to the graves 3 of the dead. Appease 
the spirits of your forefathers, and offer small presents on the 
pyres that are long since cold. 4 The shades of the dead 5 ask 
but humble offerings : affection rather than a costly gift is 
pleasing to them; Styx below has no greedy Divinities. Enough 
for them is the covering of their tomb overshadowed with the 
chaplets laid there, and the scattered fruits and the little grain 
of salt ; and corn soaked in wine, and violets loosened from 
the stem ; these gifts let a jar contain, left in the middle of 
the way. I do not forbid more costly offerings, but by these 
the shade may be appeased ; add prayers and suitable words, 
the altars being first erected. This custom did iEneas, no un- 
suitable teacher of the duties of affection, introduce into thy 

performance of the sacred rites, and was presided over by its own 'curio,' 
so called because lie took care of ('curabat') the sacred rites. Over them all 
presided the 'curio maximus,' or chief curio. Down to a.u.c. 544, he was 
chosen from the patricians ; after that period, from the plebeians. 

2 Many a tablet.] — Ver. 529. In the Forum the names of the curias 
were written on tablets, which stated when and where they were about 
to perform such rites as were not of the class of 'stativae,' or set feasts, but 
'imperative,' appointed by order of the Consul, the Praetor, or Pontifex 
Maximus. 

3 Paid to the graves.] — Ver. 533. The 'Feralia,' in honour of the dead, 
were celebrated on the 19th of February, as it was formerly the last month 
of the year. Offerings were then made to propitiate the manes or shades of 
the dead. Festus derives the word from 'fero,' 'to bear,' because they 'bear 
offerings;' or from 'ferio,' 'to slay,' because sheep were slain for sacrifice. 
Varro derives it from 'inferi,' 'the inhabitants of the infernal regions,' 'the 
dead. 5, 

4 Long since cold.] — Ver. 534. Literally, 'extinguished.' The pile, 
before being lighted, was called ' pyrus ;' when lighted for burning the dead, 
'rogus;' when extinguished, 'bustum.' 

5 Shades of the dead.] — Ver. 535. Literally, 'Manes.' According to 
some writers, the souls of the good, after death, became ' Lares;' those of the 
wicked 'Lemures,' or 'Larvae;' and the ' Manes' were those whose state was 
as yet uncertain. The name is also applied to the two Genii, Good and 
Evil, who were supposed ever to attend each individual, and to inhabit his 
tomb after death. By others the 'Manes' are considered to have been the 
deities of the infernal regions. 



b. II. 544 — 566.J OR, CALENDAR OF OTID. 71 

lands, just Latinus. He used to offer the annual gifts to 
the Genius of his father : hence did the adjoining nations 
learn the affectionate ceremonial. But at one time, while they 
were engaged in a lengthened war with contentious arms, 
they neglected the Parental days. 6 It was not with impunity 
that they did so; for, by reason of that cause of ill omen, 
Rome is said to have felt the heat of the funeral fires in the 
suburbs. 7 For my part I scarcely believe it, bat their dead 
forefathers are said to have come forth from their tombs, and 
to have uttered their complaints in the hours of the still night; 
and they say that appalhng ghosts, a phantom crowd, howled 
through the streets of the city and the fields of Latium. 
Afterwards, the omitted honours were paid at the graves, and 
there came an end of these portentous sights, and of the 
mortality as well. But while these rites are being per- 
formed, remain unwedded, ye damsels ; let the torch of pine 
wood await auspicious days. And let not the curved spear 8 
part thy virgin ringlets, maiden, who appearest to thy im- 
patient mother already of marriageable years. Conceal thy 
torches, Hymenseus, 9 and remove them afar from these dismal 
fires, the gloomy tombs have other torches than these. Let 
the Divinities too be concealed, 10 with the doors of their temples 
closed ; be the altars without incense, and let the hearths 
stand without fire. Now phantom spirits wander abroad, and 
bodies that have been committed to the tombs ; now does the 

6 Parental days.'] — Ver. 548. So called from 'parens/ 'a parent/ 'an- 
cestor,' or 'relation,' on behalf of the spirits of whom sacrifice was made 
on these days. 

' In the suburbs.'] — Ver. 550. It was forbidden by law to burn the 
dead within the walls of the city, that the priests might not be defiled by 
any casual contact with them, and that the houses might not be endan- 
gered by the flames of the funeral piles. 

J The curved spear.] — Ver. 560. The hair of the bride was adjusted 
by the husband into six locks, with the point of a needle made into the 
shape of a spear, or, as some suppose, with the point of an actual spear. Fes- 
tus says, that this ceremony was typical of the guardianship of the matrons 
by 'Juno Curitis,' or Juno 'of the lance/ Perhaps it may have been typi- 
cal of the dominion intended by the husband to be exercised over his wife. 

9 Hymenaus.] — Ver. 561. Hymen, or Hymenaeus, was the tutelar deity 
of marriage. He was son of Bacchus and Venus, or of Apollo and Calliope, 
Urania, or Clio. By some he is said to have been the son of Magnes. 

10 Be concealed.]— -V er. 564. Let the doors be closed, that the deities 
may not see any inauspicious sights, such as funerals, which were especially 
objects of aversion to the gods. 



72 THE FASTI ; [b. ii. 566—586. 

ghost feed upon 11 the viands left for it. But yet these rites 
are to last no longer, than to allow that there should remain 
of the month as many days as my verses have feet. 11 * This 
day, because on it they perform the due offerings to the dead, 
they have called ' the Feralia ;' it is the last day for appeasing 
the shades. 

See, an old woman stricken in years, sitting in the midst of 
the girls, is performing the sacred rites of Tacita, 12 yet she is 
not quite silent herself: 13 with three fingers she places three 
cloves of frankincense under the threshold, where the little 
mouse has made for himself a hidden way : then she binds 
the enchanted threads with the dark coloured spindle ; then 
she roasts on the fire the sewed-up head of a pilchard 14 which 
she has first sealed up with pitch, and pierced with a brazen 
needle. Wine too she drops on it ; whatever of the wine is 
left, she either drinks it herself, or her attendants, yet she 
herself takes the greater part. " We have tied up the tongues 
of our foes, and the mouths of our enemies," says she, in the 
act of going out, and then the drunken hag goes forth. You 
will at once ask of me, who is the silent Goddess ? learn what is 
known to me through the men of old times. Jupiter, smitten 
by an unconquerable passion for Juturna, endured many things 

11 The ghost feed upon."] — Ver. 566. At this period, viands were placed 
near the tombs, on which the Manes were supposed to feed. It was sup- 
posed that they delighted in blood, and in consequence, animals were fre- 
quently slain at the funeral pile. 

n* Verses have feet.] — Ver. 568. There are eleven feet in an Hexa- 
meter and Pentameter couplet, and as the Feralia were held on the 12th of 
the calends of March, there would be only eleven days left in the month; 
the poet means, that the Feralia must begin and end on the 12th of the 
calends of March. 

12 Tacita.'] — Ver. 572. Tacita was also worshipped under the name of 
Mania or Muta, besides the name Lara, here mentioned. Neapolis, an old 
commentator on this author, thinks that these rites accompanied the Feralia, 
as expressive of the maxim, 'De mortuis nil nisi bonum/ 'Be silent over 
the faults of the dead.' The rites here described are evidently of magical 
tendency, but are replete with absurdity. Some writers say that Numa 
worshipped one of the Muses under this name. 

13 Quite silent herself.] — Ver. 572. The editor of the Delphin edition 
most ungallantly remarks on this passage, 'An old woman be silent? She 
could just as soon hold a red hot coal in her mouth !' 

14 A pilchard.] — Ver. 578. The 'mama' was a small sea-fish of little 
value, which was eaten salted by the poorer classes. It was perhaps 
sacrificed to the goddess because its name resembled her name, Mania. Its 
mouth being sewed up was typical of silence. 



B. II. 586—615.] OK, CALENDAR OF OTID. 73 

that ought not to have been endured by so great a God. At one 
time she used to lie hid in the wood among the hazel copses, at 
another time she used to plunge into the kindred streams. He 
calls together the Nymphs, which then frequented Latium, and 
utters such words as these in the midst of their company. 
" This sister of yours is only spiting herself, and shuns that 
which is for her good, to lock herself in the embrace of the 
highest God. Consult ye for us both ; for that which will be my 
highest pleasure, the same shall prove the great advantage of 
your sister. Prevent her, at the very brink, as she flies, in order 
that she may not plunge her body beneath the waters of the 
stream.' 5 He had said; all the water Nymphs of the Tiber nodded 
their assent, and those who dwell in thy chambers, 15 Goddess 
Ilia. It chanced there was a Naiad Nymph, Lara by name ; 
but her ancient name was the first syllable twice repeated, 16 
given to her for her infirmity of talkativeness. Many a time had 
Almo 17 said to her, "Daughter, do hold your tongue;" but 
she did not hold it. She, soon as she reached the lake of 
her sister Juturna, says, "Avoid the banks/' and repeats the 
words of Jupiter. She also went to Juno, and expressing pity 
for her as a wife, says, "That husband of thine is now 
smitten by the Naiad Juturna." Jupiter was furious ; he de- 
prived her of the tongue which she had used with so little 
caution, and charged Mercury, 18 "Take her to the shades below; 
it is a proper place for the silent ; a Nymph she is, but a Nymph 
of the infernal lake shall she be." The commands of Jove are 
now being executed ; a grove receives them on the road ; she is 
said to have taken the fancy of the God who conducted her. He 
prepares to offer violence ; with her looks in the place of 
words she intreats him, and in vain with her voiceless mouth does 
she struggle to speak. She becomes pregnant, and gives birth 

15 Thy chambers.'] — Ver. 598. Ilia, when buried alive on the banks of 
the Tiber, was fabled to have become wedded to the god of the river. 

16 Twice repeated.] — Ver. 599. This name was 'Lala/ from the Greek 
XaXelp, 'to talk/ Ho chatter/ Another of her names Was Larunda. 

V Almo.] — Ver. 601. The father of Lara, a rivulet in the Roman ter- 
ritory, running from the Appian way. into the Tiber near the city. 

18 Mercury.] — Ver. 608. The son of Jupiter and Maia, and the mes- 
senger of the gods. His name was probably derived from 'merx/ 'mer- 
chandize,' as he was the god of trade and gain. He was represented with 
winged cap and winged sandals. 



74 THE FASTI; [b. n. 615— 630. 

to twins, the Lares, 19 who guard the cross ways, and ever keep 
their watch in our houses. 

The kinsfolk, full of affection, have named the next day the 
"Caristia," 20 and the company of relations assemble at the 
family feast. In good truth, it is a pleasant thing to turn our 
attention from the tombs and our relatives who are dead, to 
those who survive ; and after so many are lost, to see all that 
remains of our family, and to reckon the degrees of relation- 
ship. Let the guiltless come ; far, far hence be the unna- 
tural brother, and the mother cruel to her own offspring ; the 
son for whom the father is too long-lived, and he who counts 
his mother's years; the cruel mother-in-law, too, who hates and 
oppresses her daughter-in-law. Far hence be the brothers 21 
the descendants of Tantalus, and the wife of Jason, and she 
who gave to the husbandman the parched seed-corn j 22 Progne 
too, and her sister, 23 and Tereus, cruel to them both ; and 

19 The Lares.'] — Ver. 616. These deities were divided into the public 
and private Lares. The private, or familiars, are by some supposed to have 
been the same with the 'Manes' or 'shades' of the ancestors of the family- 
occupying the house. The public ' Lares' were, the 'urbani,' presiding over 
cities; 'rustici,' over the country; ' compitales,' over cross-roads; 'marini,' 
over the sea. Lar is an Etrurian word, signifying 'lord,' or 'noble.' 

20 Caristia.] — Ver. 617. From 'cams,' 'dear,' as these festivals were 
for the purpose of maintaining family love, and of healing misunderstand- 
ings by meeting again. 

21 The brothers.] —Ver. 627. Atreus and Thyestes, sons of Pelops and 
Hippodamia, killed their half-brother Chrysippus. Thyestes having seduced 
Aerope, the wife of Atreus, sent Pleisthenes, the son of Atreus, whom he 
had brought up, to murder his father. Atreus, supposing him to be the 
son of Thyestes, slew him. According to another version of the story, 
Atreus, feigning a reconciliation, invited Thyestes to his kingdom, and killed 
and dressed the bodies of Tantalus and Pleisthenes, the sons of Thyestes ; 
and while the latter was enjoying the meal, Atreus had their hands and 
heads brought in and shown to the father, on which Thyestes fled to the 
court of Thesprotus. Medea, the wife of Jason, slew her own children. 

22 The parched seed-corn.] — Ver. 628. Ino, daughter of Cadmus, mar- 
ried Athamas, who had Phrixus and Helle by a former marriage. These 
Ino resolved to destroy. She persuaded the women to parch the seed-corn, 
unknown to their husbands. The crop failing, the oracle at Delphi was 
consulted how consequent famine might be averted. Ino persuaded the 
messengers to say that Apollo directed Phrixus to be sacrificed to Jupiter. 
By celestial interference Phrixus was saved, and Athamas becoming mad, 
Ino rushed into the sea, and was made a sea-goddess under the name of 
Leucothea. 

23 Progne.] — Ver. 629. Tereus, king of Thrace, married Progne, and 
at her request went to Athens to bring Philomela to see her sister, and, 



». II. 630—650.] OE, CALENDAR OP OVID. 75 

whoever increases his wealth by the perpetration of crime. 
Offer the frankincense to the propitious Gods of the family : 
Concord is said on this day to be present with extreme be- 
nignity ; offer, too, a share of the viands, that the presented 
platter, testimony of the pleasing honour, may feed the well- 
girt Lares. 24 And now when night, far advanced, shall invite 
you to balmy slumbers, when ye are about to pray, take wine in 
abundance in your hand, and say, " Well may it be with us, and 
well with thee, most excellent Caesar, father of thy country," 26 
the wine being poured forth as you repeat the holy words. 

When the night shall have passed away, let the God, who 
by his landmark divides the fields, be worshipped with the 
accustomed honours. Terminus, 26 whether thou art a stone, 
or whether a stock sunk deep in the field by the ancients, 
yet even in this form thou dost possess divinity. Thee, the 
two owners of the fields crown with chaplets from their op- 
posite sides, and present with two garlands and two cakes. 
An altar is erected ; to this the female peasant herself brings 
in a broken 27 pan the fire taken from the burning hearths. 
An old man cuts up the firewood, and piles it on high when 
chopped, and strives hard to drive the branches into the 
resisting ground. While he is exciting the kindling blaze 
with dried bark, a boy 28 stands by and holds in his hands a 

having ravished her by the way, he cut out her tongue. Of this Progne 
was informed by a robe which Philomela sent her, on which was described 
the conduct of Tereus. Progne, on this, killed Itys, the son of Tereus, 
and served him up to his father. Tereus would have slain her, but the 
gods changed him into a hoopoe, Progne into a swallow, and Philomela 
into a nightingale. 

24 Well-girt Lares.'] — Ver. 634. The Lares were represented in the Ga- 
binean habit, which covered the left shoulder, leaving the right bare. The 
'patella/, or platter, was a broad vessel or dish, used in sacrifices. 

25 Father of thy country.'] — Ver. 637. The health of Augustus was 
always given at private and public entertainments, according to a decree 
of the senate to that effect. 

26 Terminus.'] — Ver. 641. This god was represented by a stone or 
stump, and not with human features. Lactantius says he was the stone 
which Saturn swallowed, mistaking him for Jupiter. His worship was 
ordained by Numa, and his emblems were crowned with wreaths of 
flowers on his yearly festivals. 

V In a broken.] — Ver. 645. 'Curta.' It is difficult to say whether the 
word 'curtus' means, ' broken/ or ' small/ here. Perhaps the former, as 
being a mark of the poverty of the person sacrificing. 

38 A boy.] — Ver. 650. Boys and girls, called 'camilli/ and 'camillae/ 



/ 6 THE FASTI ; [b. ii. 650—670. 

broad basket. Out of this, when he has thrice thrown the 
produce of the earth into the midst of the flames, his little 
daughter offers the sliced honeycombs. Others hold wine ; 
a portion of each thing is thrown into the fire ; the crowd, 
all arrayed in white, look on, and maintain religious silence. 
The common landmark also is sprinkled with the blood of 
a slain lamb ; he makes, too, no complaint when a sucking- 
pig is offered to him. The neighbours meet in supplication, 
and they celebrate the feast and sing thy praises, holy Ter- 
minus. It is thou that dost set the limits to nations, and 
cities, and mighty kingdoms ; without thee all the country 
would be steeped in litigation. In thee there is no ambi- 
tion — by no gold art thou bribed ; mayst thou with law 
and integrity preserve the fields committed to thy care. 
Hadst thou in times of old marked out the land of Thyrea, 29 
then three hundred persons would not have been consigned 
to death, and then, the name of Othryades would not have 
been read on the piled-up armour. Ah ! how much of his 
blood did he expend in his country's cause ! What, too, hap- 
pened when the new Capitol was building ? This, namely ; the 
whole multitude of Divinities withdrew, 30 and gave place to 
Jupiter. Terminus, as the ancients tell, being there found, re- 
mained in his shrine, and still possesses the temple in common 

assisted at the Roman sacrifices. They were required to be sound in health, 
perfect in limb, free born, and with both parents living. Some suppose 
that they corresponded with the Kadfii\oi of the Curetes and Corybantes, 
others with Cadmilus, one of the Cabin of Samothrace. Others again sup- 
pose that 'camillus' was merely an old Etrurian word, signifying 'a boy/ 

29 Thyrea.] — Ver. 663. Thyrea was a town on the confines of Laconia 
and Argolis. It was consequently claimed by the people of both countries, 
and they agreed to decide the claim by the sword. Three hundred men 
were chosen as champions on each side. Of these only three survived. The 
two surviving Argives hastened home triumphantly to announce their suc- 
cess ; but Othryades, the Spartan leader, who was still living, arose from 
the ground, and erected a trophy of arms, and, according to Statius, in- 
scribed it with his own name, written in his own blood, in honour of Jupi- 
ter Tropceuchus, 'the possessor of trophies;' and then slew himself. Each 
party claimed the victory, and hostilities being renewed, the Spartans 
ultimately prevailed. The poet mentions three hundred, but the story is, 
that six hundred men were engaged in the conflict. 

30 Divinities withdrew.'] — Ver. 668. They were consulted by Tarqui- 
nius Superbus, by auguries, and all but Terminus consented to be removed, 
which circumstance was regarded as an omen of the future stability of the 
Roman empire. 



B. ii. 670—695.] OB, CALENDAR OP OVID. 77 

with mighty Jove. Now, too, that he may see nothing but 
the stars above him, the roof of his temple has a little opening. 
After that circumstance, Terminus, no inconstancy was per- 
mitted thee ; in whatever situation thou hast been placed, 
there abide, and do not yield one jot to any neighbour asking 
thee ; that thou mayst not appear to favour a mortal rather 
than Jove. And whether thou shalt be struck by the plough- 
shares, or whether by the harrows, cry aloud, "This is my field, 31 
that is yours." There is a road which leads the citizens to 
the fields of the Laurentines, realms once sought by the Dar- 
danian chief. On that road, the sixth mile-stone from the 
city is accustomed to witness the sacrifices made to thee, 
Terminus, with the entrails of a sheep. To other nations, land 
has been allotted with some fixed limits ; the extent of the 
Roman City and of the earth is the same. 

Now must I tell of the banishment 32 of the king Tarquinius. 
From that event the sixth day from the end of the month has 
derived its name. Tarquinius was the last that held sove- 
reign sway over the Roman people, a wicked man, 33 but brave 
in arms. Some cities he had taken, others he had rased to 
the ground, and Gabii u he had made his own by a dis- 
graceful stratagem. For the youngest of his three sons, 
plainly the offspring 35 of Superbus, came in the silence of the 
night into the midst of the enemy. On the moment, they un- 
sheathed their swords, " Strike," said he, "an unarmed man ; 
this, my brothers 36 and my father Tarquinius would wish ; he 

31 This is my field.'] — Ver. 677-8. Gower translates these lines thus — 

1 And maugre thou art scratched with rake and plow, 
Cry, this is yours, and this belongs to you.' 

32 The banishment.] — Ver. 685. This festival was called the Regifugium, 
or ' Royal flight.' 

33 A wicked man."] — Ver. 688. He had murdered his father-in-law, 
Servius Tullius, and then usurped his throne. He had been successful 
against the Volsci, and had taken Suessa Pometia, their principal town. 

34 Gabii.~\ — Ver. 690. This was a town of Latium, nearly half way 
between Rome and Prseneste. 

35 Plainly the offspring.'] — Ver. 691. Showing himself to be so by 
his unprincipled conduct. Gower translates this and the following line 
thus — 

* For lo! his young son, and his own son right, 
Came into their foes' garrison by night.' 

36 My brothers.] — Ver. 694. Titus and Aruns. Sextus was the 
youngest. Dionysius, however, makes Sextus to have been the eldest. 



78 THE PASTI ; [b. ii. 695—717. 

who has mangled my back with the cruel lash." That he 
might be enabled to say this, he had submitted to stripes. It 
was moonlight, they look upon the youth and sheathe their 
swords ; and, having drawn his dress on one side, they see 
his back all covered with weals. They go so far as to weep, 
and they beg that he will superintend the management of the 
war; he, in his cunning, concurs with these unsuspecting 
men. And now grown powerful, he sends a friend, and asks 
his father what means he could point out to him for betraying 
Gabii. There is near at hand a garden well stocked with 
sweet-scented plants, having its soil divided by a gently mur- 
muring streamlet of water. There Tarquinius receives the 
secret despatches of his son, and with a staff he knocks off the 
heads of the tallest lilies. When the messenger returns and 
mentions to him the striking down of the lilies, 37 the son says, 
" I understand what are the orders of my father." There is 
no delay ; the principal men of the town of Gabii being first 
slain, the walls, deprived of their chiefs, are delivered up. 
Lo ! dreadful to be seen ! a serpent issues forth from the 
midst of the altars, and drags the entrails from the extin- 
guished flames. Phoebus is consulted. 38 An oracular response 
is returned in these words : — "He shall be the conqueror who 
first shall kiss his mother." Then hastened they each man to 
kiss 39 his mother, a set who put faith in the Deity whom really 
they did not understand. Brutus 40 was a wise man, who 

& The lilies.']— Ver. 707. Herodotus (book 5. c. 92.) tells us that 
Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus, employed the same mode of giving. counsel 
to Periander of Corinth. Gower translates this and the next line in the 
following manner: — 

1 The scout brings word he cropt the highest lilies : 
" I know," saith Sextus, il what my father's will is." ' 

Livy says that the heads of the highest poppies, ' summa papaverum/ were 
struck off. 

33 Phcebus is consulted.'] — Ver. 710. Titus and Aruns went to Delphi for 
this purpose, and at the same time they enquired who should succeed their 
father as ruler of Rome. The poet does not allude to this query; but to 
it was given the answer mentioned in the text. 

39 Each man to kiss.] — Ver. 715. Dionysius says, that they agreed to 
conceal the oracle, and that, kissing their parent at the same time, they 
should reign jointly. Livy states, that they left it to chance, by drawing 
lots which should salute his parent first. 

40 Brutus.']— Ver. 717. His father, M. Junius, and his elder brother, 



B. II. 717—741.] OE, CALENDAR OF OYID. 79 

feigned the part of a fool, in order that he might be in safety 
from thy machinations, cruel Superbus ! He, falling on 
his face, kissed his mother earth, while he was supposed to 
have fallen down by reason of his foot stumbling. In the 
mean time Ardea 41 is being beleaguered by the standards of 
Rome, and, under blockade, endures tedious delay. While 
they are unoccupied, and the enemy fears to join battle, they 
amuse themselves in camp, and the soldier spends his time in 
idleness. The young Tarquinius entertains his comrades 
with feasting and wine, and the son of the king says to them, 
" While this stubborn Ardea detains us by its tedious war, 
and permits us not to carry back our arms to the Gods of our 
country, think you, are the partners of our beds faithful to us ? 
and are we objects of reciprocal love to our wives?" They 
extol, each man his own wife ; the dispute increases with their 
earnestness, and both tongue and affection wax warm with 
much wine. He, to whom Collatia 42 had given an honoured 
name, rises. " There is no occasion for words," says he ; 
" put faith in facts alone. Abundance of the night remains, 
let us mount our horses, and make for the city ." 43 His words 
meet with their approval, and their horses are bridled. These 
had now borne their masters to the end of the journey. Forth- 
with they repaired to the royal abode ; there was no sentinel at 
the door. 44 Behold ! they find the daughter-in-law of the king 
sitting up and spending the night with wine before her ; the 
chaplets having fallen down 45 on her neck. Going thence with 

were slain by Tarquin to obtain their wealth. To escape a similar fate, 
L. J. Brutus counterfeited idiotcy, and was retained by Tarquin in his 
court for the amusement of his sons. 

41 Ardea."] — Ver. 721. A town of Latium, twenty-three miles distant 
from Rome, so called either from ' ardea/ ' a heron/ from an augury taken 
therefrom ; or from ' ardeo/ ' to be hot/ on account of the extreme heat 
of the country. Tarquin besieged it, on the pretext that it was conspiring 
to effect the return of certain Roman exiles. 

42 Collatia.'] — Ver. 733. A Sabine town, situated on an eminence 
about four miles to the east of Rome. Tarquinius was called Collatinus, 
as his father Egerius had been appointed governor of Collatia, when cap- 
tured by his uncle Tarquinius Priscus. 

43 For the city.] — Ver. 735. After that, they would have to ride some 
miles to Collatia, where the abode of Collatinus was. 

44 No sentinel at the door.] — Ver. 738. Meaning that all neglected their 
duties by reason of the neglect and inebriety of their mistress. 

45 Having fallen down.] — Ver. 739. It was- not deemed consistent with 



80 THE FASTI ; [b. ii. 741—770. 

rapid pace, Lucretia is visited. She was employed in spinning ; 
before her bed were the work-baskets and the soft wool. By 
the lamp's dim light her handmaids were spinning their as- 
signed tasks, among whom she thus spoke with gentle voice : 
— "With all speed there must be sent to your master a cloak 46 
made with our hands ; now, at this moment, hasten on, my 
girls. But what news have ye heard? for you are in the way 
of hearing more than I; how much of the war do they say 
still remains ? Soon shalt thou be conquered, and fall, vexa- 
tious Ardea ; thou art resisting better men, while thus com- 
pelling our husbands to be from home ; only may they return 
in safety. But rash is that husband of mine, and recklessly he 
rushes on when the sword is drawn. My senses fail me, and 
I faint, oft as the image of him engaged in battle occurs to my 
mind ; and a chilling coldness pervades my breast." She ends 
in tears, and drops the tight-drawn threads, and hides her 
face in her bosom. Even this became her ; her tears became 
a woman so chaste, and her countenance was worthy of, and 
suited to, her nature. " Lay aside your fears ; I am here," 
said her husband. She revived, and hung, a sweet burden, 
upon her husband's neck. Meanwhile the royal youth con- 
ceives a frantic passion, and, hurried onwards by blind desire, 
loses all control of himself. Her figure charms him, her 
complexion, white as snow, her auburn hair, and the grace 
which atttends her, adorned by no art. Her words charm 
him, her voice, and her very chastity ; and the less hope there 
is, the more intensely does he desire. And now the bird, the 
harbinger of dawn, had sent forth his note, when the young 
men are on their return to the camp. His wonder-stricken 
feelings are preyed on by the image of her absent, and as he 
recalls her to his mind, more charms are discovered, and 

female delicacy to wear chaplets at all ; but it was a plain proof of inebriety 
when they had fallen from the head on to the neck. It is to be observed, 
that this demirep had ' merum/ ' pure wine,' and, undiluted, before 
her. 

46 A cloak.'] — Ver. 746. By this line we may see that both industry 
and economy were Lucretia' s virtues. The ' lacerna' was a military cloak 
of thick texture, worn over the ' toga,' or tunic, open in front, and 
fastened with clasps. Gower thus translates this and the preceding 
line — 

1 Maids, you must make (plie, plie your bus'ness faster) 
A coat to send in haste unto your master/ 



b. ii. 770— SOL] OR, CALENDAR OF OVID. 81 

the more they engage him. Thus it was she sat, thus was she 
attired, thus did she spin the warp, thus lay on her neck her 
neglected tresses. These were her features, these were her 
words ; this her expression, this her make, this the complexion 
of her face. As the billow is wont to abate after a great 
storm, but yet from the wind that has raged the waves swell 
on ; so, though the presence of her charming form was 
wanting, the passion still remained, which that form when 
present had inspired. He burns, and, urged on by the goads 
of unlawful desire, he plans violence and treachery against a bed 
undeserving of it. " The result is doubtful — we will dare the 
utmost, " said he. "Be it chance, or be it a providence that 
aids the bold, let him see to it. It was by daring, too, that 
Gabii we won." Thus having said, he girds his side with his 
sword, and presses the back of his steed. Collatia receives 
the youth within her brass-barred portal just as the sun is 
preparing to hide his disk. An enemy, 47 in the guise of a guest, 
he enters the house of Collatinus ; he is kindly received, for 
he was connected by blood. What ignorance is there in the 
minds of mortals ! She, hapless one, unsuspicious of the world, 
makes ready the entertainment for her enemy. He had now 
finished the repast, and slumber demands its hour. It was night, 
and there were no lights 48 in the whole house. He arises, and 
draws from its sheath the golden-hilted sword, and he comes 
to thy chamber, virtuous matron ; and when he now presses 
the bed, he says, " I have my sword here with me, Lucre tia ; 
'tis I, Tarquinius, 49 the son of the king, who address thee." 
She answers not, for she has no voice, no power of speech, or 
any sense left in her breast. But she trembles, as when 
sometime the little lambkin, seized upon after it has left the 
fold, lies under the wolf, its deadly foe. What can she do ? Can 

47 An enemy.'] — Ver. 787. The words are, l Hostis ut hospes,' ' an 
enemy as a guest.' There is evidently a play upon the similar sound of 
the two words. Livy also employs the same collocation of these words. 

48 No lights.'] — Ver. 792. This shews the confidence that Lucretia had 
in the propriety of her guest's conduct, and her own unsuspecting and in- 
nocent nature, as it was generally the custom for a servant near the cham- 
ber to keep a lamp burning. 

49 'Tis /, Tarquinius.] — Ver. 796. Gower translates this and the pre- 
ceding line : 

* Laid on the bed. Lucretia, no denial ; 
Here is my sword ; I'm Tarquine of blood royall.' 

G 



82 THE FASTI ; [b. n. 801—857. 

she resist? A woman, in the contest she will surely he over- 
come. Cry out ? But in his right hand there is the sword to 
slay her. Fly 1 Her breast is held down by his hands placed 
on it ; a breast now for the first time touched by the hand of a 
stranger. Her foe, inflamed with passion, urges her with entrea- 
ties, with bribes, and with threats. By entreaties, by bribes, by 
threats, he moves her not. " Thou dost avail nothing," he said ; 
" I will take thy life for the purpose of criminating thee. I, an 
adulterer, will be the false witness of thy adultery. I will slay 
the servant, in whose company thou shalt be said to have been 
detected." The matron yielded, overcome by fear for her 
good fame. Why, conqueror, dost thou exult ? This victory 
shall prove thy destruction. Ah ! what a price did that one 
night cost to thy sovereignty ! And now the day had dawned ; 
she sits with her hair dishevelled, just as a mother is wont to do 
when about to go to the funeral pile of her son ; she summons 
from the camp her aged father, with her faithful husband; and 
without any delay they both come. And when they see the 
state of her attire, they ask what is the cause of her mourning, 
whose obsequies it is that she is preparing, or with what 
calamity she is afflicted. For a long time she is silent, and, 
filled with shame, she conceals her face with her dress. Her 
tears flow like an everspringing stream. On one side, her 
father, on the other, her husband console her tears, and 
entreat of her to tell them ; and they weep and feel alarm with 
an undefined dread. Thrice did she attempt to speak, thrice 
did she fail, and again a fourth time did she attempt it, and 
even then she raised not her eyes. " Shall I owe this dis- 
grace too to Tarquinius ? I will speak out," says she ; " I, 
wretched that I am, will speak out my own disgrace." And 
what she can, she relates. The conclusion remained untold; she 
wept, and the cheeks of the matron were suffused with crim- 
son. Her father and her husband excuse her as the victim of 
compulsion. " That pardon which ye give," she said, " do I 
deny to myself." There is no pause : with a poniard that 
she had concealed she pierces her breast, and, streaming with 
blood, she falls at her father's feet. And even then, in the 
moment of death, she uses caution that she may fall in no 
unseemly manner, — this was her care even as she fell. 

Behold ! over her body, forgetful of their dignity, lie both her 
husband and her father, bewailing their common loss. Brutus 



B II. 857-861.] OR, CALENDAR OF OVID. 83 

is there, and now at last by his spirit falsifies 50 his name, and 
snatches from her dying body the piercing blade ; then holding 
the knife dripping with noble blood, with threatening lips he 
utters these fearless words : "By this noble and chaste blood, 
I swear to thee, and by thy spirit which shall be to me a deity, 
that Tarquinius, with his exiled house, shall pay the penalty of 
this ; now long enough has the energy of my mind lain con- 
cealed." She, as she lay, at this exclamation, turned her 
eyes, void of the light of life, and seemed, by shaking her 
locks, to express her approval of his words. This matron 
of heroic mind is borne to her burial, and carries with her 
tears and popular indignation. The gash, all gaping wide, is 
exposed to view. Brutus, with loud voice, arouses the Quirites, 
and recounts the dreadful crimes of the king. Tarquinius 
flies, with his children. 51 The Consul 52 undertakes the annual 
jurisdiction. This was the last day of royalty. 

Am I deceived, or is the swallow come, the harbinger of 
spring ? and does she fear lest perchance returning winter may 
retrace his course ? Yet ofttimes, Progne, wilt thou complain 
that thou didst make too great haste, and thy husband Tereus 
shall be gladdened 53 by thy shivering in the cold. 

And now two nights of the second month are remaining, and 
Mars with harnessed chariot drives his swift steeds. The name 
of Equina, 54 derived from fact, has adhered to the games, which 
the God himself witnesses on his own plain. Rightly, Gradivus> 55 

50 Falsifies."] — Ver. 837. The name Brutus was given to him from 
his supposed idiotcy. He now shows his real character as a hero, a pa- 
triot, and a man of feeling. The father of Lucretia was Spurius Lucretius 
Tricipitinus. 

51 With his children.'] — Ver. 851. Titus and Aruns retired with their 
father to Caere, in Etruria. Sextus returned to Gabii, where he was put 
to death in return for his treachery and numerous acts of cruelty. 

52 The Consul.] — Ver. 851. The kings being expelled a.u.c. 244, two 
yearly officers, with an equal degree of authority, were appointed, called 
consuls. Brutus and Collatinus were the first persons named to that office. 

53 Be gladdened.] — Ver. 856. On account of his old enmity to Progne. 
See the note to line 629 of this book. 

54 'Equina.'] — Ver. 859. These were chariot races, instituted by 
Romulus in honour of Mars. They were celebrated on the third of the 
calends of March, on the Campus Martius ; or if that place was flooded, as 
was sometimes the case at that season, then on a part of the Caelian Hill, 
called by Catullus ' Campus Minor,' ' the lesser plain/ 

55 Rightly, Gradivus] — Ver. 861. Because the poet is about to com- 

Gr 2 



84 THE FASTI ; [b. ii. 861—864. 

dost thou come ; thy season demands its place, and the month, 
marked by thy name, is at hand. We have now reached the 
harbour, our book being concluded with the month ; next, it is 
upon other waters that my bark must sail. 

mence the month of March, which was dedicated to him. Mars was 
called Gradivus from i gradior,' ' to go/ or ' march ' to the battle, or from 
the Greek word KpaSaiva), ' to shake/ because he shakes the lance ; or from 
1 gramen,' because he was said to have been produced by the agency of a 
herb through the aid of Flora. According to Servius, in his Commentary 
on the iEneid, book L, 1. 296, he was called Quirinus, when peaceable, but 
Gradivus, when unappeased ; he therefore had two temples, one within the 
city, as its protector in peace ; the other without, on the Appian road, as 
its defender in war. 



B. in. 1—5.] OB, C1LEKDAB OF OYID. 85 



BOOK THE THIRD. 



CONTENTS. 



The invocation of Mars, ver. 1 — 8. The history of Romulus and 
Remus, from their birth to the foundation of the city ; the worship 
of Mars ; the origin of the name of March, 9—86. The position of 
this month in the calendars of other nations, 87 — 98. The number 
of the Roman months before the time of Numa, and his addition to 
that number ; the institution of the solar year by Caesar, 99 — 104. The 
Matronalia described ; the rape of the Sabine women ; the beauties 
of the spring, 167 — 258. The origin and festival of the Salii ; the 
descent from heaven of the Ancile, 259 — 398. The setting of the second 
Fish, 399 — 402. The setting of Arctophylax, and the rising of the Vin- 
tager, 403—414. The sacred rites of Vesta, and the Pontificate of 
Augustus, 415—428. The Temple of Vejovis dedicated, 429—448. 
The neck of Pegasus rises, 449 — 458. The rising of the Crown, and the 
story of Theseus and Ariadne, 459 — 516. The second Equiria, 517 — 
522. The sacred rites of Anna Perenna ; the story of Dido and Anna, 
with the arrival of the latter in Latium ; and the secession of the Roman 
commonalty, 523—696. The death of Julius Caesar, 697—710. The 
Scorpion partly sets, 711-712. The origin and description of the 
Liberalia ; the time for assuming the Toga virilis ; the praises of 
Bacchus, 713 — 790. The procession to the Argei, 791-2. The origin 
of the Constellation of the Kite, and the battle of the Giants, 793—808. 
The Quinquatria, or five-day festival of Minerva, 809 — 850. The sun 
enters the Ram ; the story of Helle and Phryxus, 851 — 876. The 
vernal ^Equinox, 877-8. The festival of Janus, Health, Concord, and 
Peace, 879—882. The worship of the Moon on the Aventine Hill, 883. 

Maes, thou warlike God, awhile laying aside thy shield and 
spear, approach, and from the helmet's pressure liberate thy 
glossy hair. Perchance thou mayst ask what a poet has to 
do 1 with Mars ; my answer is, the month which is now being 
celebrated by me, derives from thee its name. Thou thyself 

1 Has to do.'] — Ver. 3-4. Gower's translation of these lines is — 

1 Perchance thou'lt say, with Mars, what make the Muses ? 
This month we sing his name from thee deduces.' 



S6 THE FASTI; [b. in. 5—30. 

seeest that fierce battles are waged by the hand of Minerva ; 
has she on that account less leisure for the liberal arts? 
After the example of Pallas, do thou take an opportunity 
for laying aside thy lance ; even when unarmed thou wilt 
find somewhat for thee to do. Then, too, wast thou un- 
armed when the Roman priestess 2 captivated thee, that thou 
mightst provide for this city an origin worthy of it. Silvia, 
the Vestal maid — for what forbids me to commence from that 
point, — early in the morning, was fetching water with which 
to wash 3 the sacred utensils. She had now reached the bank 
sloping with a path easy of descent, and her earthen pitcher 
is set down from off her head. Wearied, she has now seated 
herself on the ground, and with her bosom open she admits 
the breeze, and re-arranges her disordered tresses. While 
she sits, the shading willows, the songs of the birds, and the 
gentle murmuring of the stream, invite slumber. Soft sleep 
stealthily creeps upon her overpowered eyes, and her hand, 
become powerless, falls from her side. Mars sees her, seeing 
he desires, desiring he enjoys he?°; and then by his divine 
power he conceals the stealthy deed. Sleep departs ; she 
lies there, now pregnant ; for now, founder of the Roman 
city, thou wast within her womb ! She rises languid, nor 
knows she why thus languid she rises ; and leaning against a 
tree, she utters such words as these : " May that prove favour- 
able and fortunate, I pray, which in a vision of my slumbers 
I have beheld ! or was it too distinct for a vision ? I was 
standing near the Ilian fires, 4 when the woollen fillet drop- 

2 The Roman priestess.] — Ver. 9. Heinsius suggests ' Trojana,' inas- 
much as Rome was not then founded, and she was a native of Alba Longa. 
The poet, however, may mean to say that in her progeny she became en- 
titled to the epithet ' Romana/ Her name is sometimes Ilia, sometimes 
Rhea Silvia ; in poetry the first is most frequently used. Ovid, however, 
makes use of both names. 

3 To wash.'] — Ver. 11 — 13. One of the duties of the Vestals was to 
draw water, with which to wash and sprinkle the temple, and cleanse the 
sacred vessels. Among these were the ' acerra/ or ' thuribulum,' a censer 
for holding the incense, ' simpulum/ ' capis,' or ' capedo,' ' guttus,' and 
1 patera,' used in libations ; ' ollse/ pots of various descriptions ; the tripods, 
&c Gower's version is — 

1 Now, Sylvia, (here our sail we hoise,) something 
To wash i'th' morning went unto the spring. 
Now when she came unto the wriggling brook/ 

4 The llian fires.] — Ver. 29. Having been originally brought from 
Ilium or Troy by iEneas. 



B. Ill, 30—49.] OR, CALENDAR OP OVID. 37 

ping from off my hair, fell down 5 before the sacred heath. 
Thence, wondrous to be seen, two palm-trees shoot up toge- 
ther • of these, one was greater than the other, and with its 
heavy branches it overshadowed the whole earth, and with its 
new grown foliage reached the highest stars. And noiv, lo ! 
my uncle brandishes the axe 6 against them ; I shudder at 
the recollection, and my heart palpitates with dread. A wood- 
pecker, 7 bird of Mars, and a she-wolf fight in defence of the two 
trees ; by means of these both the palm-trees are preserved 
in safety." She spoke ; and with faltering strength she 
raised the pitcher ; she had filled it while relating her vision. 
Meantime, as Remus grew, as Quirinus grew, her womb was 
heavy with the celestial burden. There now remained to the 
God of light but two signs 8 for him to traverse ere the year 
should take its departure, its course being duly performed. 
Silvia becomes a mother ; the images of Vesta y are said at 
that time to have placed their virgin hands b' fore their eyes. 
Assuredly, the altar of the Goddess trembler' Vr priestess 
brought forth, and the flame affrighted r beneath 

its ashes. lu When Amulius, the despisr arned 

5 Fell down.]— Vex. 30. The Vestals used t 

' infulae', ' bands,' and ' vitta?,' ■ fillets.' As, on the dt^ 
for breaking her vows of virginity, the sacred fillet was * 
head by the Pontifex Maxiraus, this dream was ominous Ox - 
ing fate. The dream of Astyages, mentioned by Herodotus . 
book 1, c. 4, portending the birth of Cyrus, was, in its circumstaru 
similar. 

6 Brandishes the axe.] — Ver. 35-6. Gower's translation is — 

1 When lo ! my uncle fain would have them cropt, 
Smit at the sight, my heart for terror hopt.' 

7 A woodpecker.] — Ver. 37. According to Pliny the Elder, this bird 
received his name, * picus,' from the father of Faunus, who was so 
called, and was transformed into that bird by Circe. Plutarch agrees with 
Ovid in representing that the infants were fed by a wolf and a woodpecker. 

8 But two signs.] — Ver. 44. This sentence is a periphrasis for * ten 
months.' 

9 The images of Vesta.] — Ver. 45. There were no images of this 
goddess in her temples, and in the sixth book, 1. 277, the poet acknow- 
ledges his error. She was the guardian of houses, and there were paint- 
ings of her usually in every dwelling. On the exterior, however, of her 
temple at Rome there was a statue of her, which form, together with 
her symbols, is still to be seen upon some Roman coins. 

10 Beneath its ashes.] — Ver. 48. The extinction of the sacred fire was 



88 THE FA3TI ; [b. hi. 49—63. 

these things, (for he, victorious, kept possession of the power 
which he had torn from his brother), he orders the twins to 
be drowned in the river. The water shrinks back from the 
crime : the children are left on the dry ground. Who does 
not know 11 how the infants thrived on the milk of a wild 
beast, and how, many a time did the woodpecker bear food 
to them thus exposed. I would not pass by thee in silence, 
Larentia, 12 nurse of so mighty a race, nor would I be silent of 
thy humble circumstances, poor Faustulus. Thy praises 
will come when I shall tell of the Larentalia ; December, a 
month dear to the Gods of enjoyment, 13 holds these. The sons 
of Mars had noio grown up to the age of thrice six years, and 
the first beard was now appearing beneath their yellow locks. 
The brothers, the sons of Ilia, were distributing justice, at their 
request, to all the husbandmen and those who tended the 
herds. Ofttimes do they come home exulting in the blood of 

an event regarded with the greatest horror, as being a presage of great 
national misfortunes. The Vestal under whose charge the fire was, when 
it was suffered to go out, was stripped and flogged most severely by the 
Pontifex Maximus, and the flame was rekindled by the friction of two 
pieces of wood from the ' felix arbor ; ' according to some authors, it was 
rekindled from the rays of the sun by a hollow conical reflector. 

11 Who does not know.'] — Ver. 53. This story was related in the works 
of Ennias, one of the olden poets, and it was well known by tradition ; 
and perhaps, in the mouths of the common people, it occupied much the 
same position as ' the story of King Arthur' or ' the Seven Champions of 
Christendom' does with us. 

13 Larentia.] — Ver. 55. Larentia, or Laurentia, was the wife of Faus- 
tulus, and the nurse of Romulus and Remus. Being, as it is supposed, a 
woman of no good repute, the story is said by some writers to have 
arisen from that circumstance, that the children were suckled by a wolf ; 
' lupa' being the Latin for both a ' she-wolf' and a female of unchaste 
character. The festival of Larentia, the Larentalia, was celebrated in 
December, though some think that it was in honour of a different per- 
son. Faustulus was the shepherd of Amulius. 

13 The gods of enjoyment.] — Ver. 58. ' Genii.' The ' Genii' were 
tutelary deities, each having charge of an individual up to the time of his 
death. They were supposed to be propitiated with wine and sacrifices, 
and hence the notion arose that they took pleasure in revelry and feasting. 
The poet alludes here to the Saturnalia, which took place some days before 
the Larentalia, and which professedly lasted but three days ; but the fes- 
tival, extending its influence over the remaining part of the month, it 
naturally imparted a tone of festivity to the Larentalia. At this season all 
were engaged in mirth and revelry ; presents were interchanged, and 
slaves were, for the time, elevated to a level with their masters. 



B. in. 63—82.] OR, CALENDAE OF OVID. 89 

the plunderers, and bring back into their own fields the 
oxen that had been carried off. When now they learn their 
origin, the discovery of their father increases their courage, 
and they feel ashamed to have renown but in a few cottages. 
And now Amulius falls pierced by the sword of Romulus, and 
the sovereignty is restored to their aged grandsire. 14 City 
walls are built, which, low as they were, it ill-betimed Remus 
to leap over them. Now, in the spot where lately there had 
been but forests and the retreats of the cattle, there was a city 
sprung up, when the father of that eternal city says, " Ruler 
of arms, of whose blood I am believed to be born, (and that I 
may be with good reason so believed, I will give sure pledges), 
from thee do we derive a commencement for the Roman year. 
Henceforth, let the first month pass on its course called after 
the name of my sire. His word is ratified, and he calls the 
month from his father's name ; this act of duty is said to 
have been pleasing to the Divinity. 15 And yet the Latian 
people of ancient times worshipped Mars before all the Gods; 
the warlike multitude had made this worship the object of their 
zealous attention. The people of Cecrops venerate Pallas; 16 
Crete, the land of Minos, Diana ; the land of Hypsipyle, 17 adores 

14 Aged grandsire] — Ver. 68. Numitor, the father of Ilia, who had 
been deposed by Amulius. 

15 Pleasing to the divinity.'] — Ver. 77-8. Gower's translation of these 
two lines runs thus — - 

1 His word's made good, this month he thus did call, 
And pleas'd his father very well withall/ 

16 Venerate P 'alias. ,] — Ver 81. This was the name under which the 
Athenians or Cecropidae worshipped Minerva, the goddess of war and of 
the fine arts. Cecrops was the first king of the Athenians, and founder of 
the colony, whence the epithet here given. The people of Crete, now 
the Isle of Candia, are called ' Minoi'an/ from Minos, its king and law- 
giver, who was promoted to the latter distinction in the Infernal regions. 
Diana was worshipped by the Cretans under the name of Dictynna, from 
Mount Dicte, where her sacrifices were performed with great solemnity ; 
or from Siktvc, 'a hunting-net/ 

17 Land of Hypsipyle.] — Ver. 82. Lemnos, an island in the iEgean 
Sea, is thus called from Hypsipyle, daughter of its king, Thoas. The 
women of Lemnos conspiring to put the men to death, she saved her 
father, and had him conveyed secretly to Chios. Vulcan having been 
hurled from heaven by Jupiter, or, as some say, by his mother Juno, on 
account of his deformity, after a descent of an entire day, alighted in 
Lemnos. Sparta was a city of Laconia, in Peloponnesus, founded by 



$0 THE FASTI; [b. hi. 82— 104. 

Vulcan ; Sparta, and Mycenae the Pelopian city, Juno ; the dis- 
trict of Maenalus, the pine-wreathed head of Faunus. Mars was 
a deserving object of worship to Latium, because he presides 
over arms : 'twas arms that gave both power and glory to 
that fierce people. But if you happen to have leisure, examine 
the Calendars of other states of Italy; in these also there will 
be a month called after the name of Mars, It was the third 
month among the Albans ; the fifth with the Falisci ; the 
sixth among thy clans, Hernician land. 18 There is an agree- 
ment in the Alban order of reckoning the months, with that of 
the people of Aricia, and the lofty walls built by the hand of 
Telegonus. The Laurentes reckon this the fifth month, the 
fierce iEquicolus the tenth, the people of Cures the first after 
the third, and thou, warrior of Pelignum, coincidest with thy 
ancestors, the Sabines ; with each people this God is fourth 
in the order of the months. Romulus, that he might surpass 
all these, in his arrangement at least, dedicated the first month 
to the author of his birth. 

Nor did the ancients have as many Calends 19 as there now 
are; their year was shorter by a couple of months. Not yet 
had Greece, a people more eloquent than brave, 20 imparted to 
the conquerors the arts of the conquered. The man who 
fought well, he was acquainted with the arts of Rome ; who- 
ever could hurl the javelin, he was eloquent. Who, in 

Spartus, grandson of Inachus. Mycenae was a town of Argos, in Pelopon- 
nesus. Pelops never lived there, but it afterwards became one of the 
principal possessions of his descendants, whence its epithet here. 

18 Hernician land.] — Ver. 90. The Hernici occupies a hilly district 
between the Volsci and the iEqui. Aricia was a town of Latium. Tuscu- 
lum was situated on a high hill, twelve miles from Rome ; it was built by 
Telegonus, the son of Ulysses and Circe. Laurentium was the capital of 
Latium. The ^Equi or iEquicoli were a people located between the Marsi 
and the Hernici. The Peligni were a people of Italy, beyond the Marsi, 
and near the Adriatic Sea. According to Festus they were a colony 
from Illyria, and not descended from the Sabines, as Ovid here says they 
were. They were a warlike race, whence the epithet ' miles,' a warrior. 
Niebuhr, in his Roman History, gives an account of these various nations. 

19 Calends.] — Ver. 99. Consequently months, as the ' calendar ' were 
the first day in every month. 

20 More eloquent than brave.] — Ver. 102. He alludes, not to the time 
when their valour supplied the want of numbers, in their struggles 
against the Persian power ; but to a much later period, when, buried 
in sloth and effeminacy, they fell an easy prey to the Roman passion for 
conquest. 



B. III. 104—115.] OB, CALENDAR OP OVID. 91 

those days, had marked the Hyades or the Pleiades, daughters 
of Atlas, or had noticed that there were two poles under the 
canopy 21 of the heavens ? or that there were two Bears, 22 one of 
which, the Cynosure, was watched by the men of Sidon, 
while the Grecian bark is observing Helice, the other ? And 
who had remarked that the signs of the zodiac, which the 
brother traverses in the space of a year, the sister's steeds 23 
pass through in a single month ? Left to themselves and un- 
watched, the stars ran their course through the year; but yet 
it was universally agreed that the Gods do exist. 24 They med- 
dled not with the signs that roll along the heavens, but then- 
own standards ; 25 to lose which was a great crime. 26 These were 

21 Under the canopy. .] — Ver. 106. ' Sub axe/ Literally l under the 
axis,' meaning at the extremities of the imaginary axis on which the earth 
moves, at which extremities are the Arctic and Antarctic poles. 

22 Two Bears.] — Ver. 107. The i Ursa major ' and the ' Ursa minor/ 
The ■ Ursa major/ or ' Greater bear/ was the constellation, whose story- 
is mentioned at length in the second book. It was called also Helice. 
from the Greek eXivo-u), ' to revolve/ because it revolves round the 
Pole. The lesser bear was also called ' Cynosura/ from kwoq ovpd, ' dog's 
tail/ the stars, in their sequence, being fancifully thought to resemble 
that object. Cynosyra was said to have been a nymph, who nursed Jupiter 
on Mount Ida, and for that service was raised to the stars. The Phoeni- 
cians, who inhabited Sidon, took their observations from this constel- 
lation, while the Greeks, for that purpose, used the former. 

23 The sister's steeds.'] — Ver. 110. The poet means to say, that the 
sun, l the brother/ remains for a month in each sign of the Zodiac, while 
the moon passes through them all in the space of one month. 

u Thai the Gods do exist.] — Ver. 112. He appears to mean, that, igno- 
rant as they were of astronomical subjects, they were still convinced of the 
existence of the gods. Burmann and Gierig would read it as though to 
be translated thus, ' but it w r as agreed that they [the stars] are gods;' 
that, in fact, they had come to that opinion about them, but had never 
noticed them with the ken of the astronomer. The former seems to be 
most probably the author's meaning. 

25 But their own standards.'] — Ver. 114. The author here plays upon 
the different meanings of the word ' signa/ which signifies either ' con- 
stellations/ or 'standards/ according to the context. They did not trouble 
themselves about the ' signa' of the sky, they only moved their own 
* signa.' To give effect to his pun, he seems to be guilty of some harsh- 
ness in speaking of mortals ' moving the constellations/ The expression 
is, however, not without precedent in other Latin w r riters. 

26 A great crime.] — Ver. 114. For any of the soldiers, and especially 
the standard bearer, to lose the standard was highly dishonourable, and 
sometimes it was a capital offence. Among other punishments were, short 



92 THE FASTI; [b. in. 115— 124. 

of hay indeed ; but there was as much respect paid to that 
hay as at the present day you see your eagles receive. A long 
pole used to bear the elevated wisps, from which circumstance 
the manipular soldier derives his name. 27 

In consequence, those untutored minds, as yet deficient in 
powers of calculation, observed their five yearly lustra, 28 too short 
by ten months. When the moon had completed her tenth revolu- 
tion, it was a year; this number was then in great esteem. Either, 
because so many are the fingers, by the help of which we are 
wont to reckon, or because in the tenth month woman brings 

commons on barley bread, decimation, being stripped in sight of the 
whole army, being clad in female vesture, being driven into the enemy's 
quarters, being left among the baggage with the prisoners, and being severely 
whipped. 

Ti Derives his name.] — Ver. 117-18. The author here tells us, that 
in early times a bundle of hay on the end of a pole served that purpose. 
The army of Romulus being mostly composed of peasants, this was not at 
all improbable. To every troop of one hundred men, a ' manipulus,' or 
wisp of hay (so called from * manum implere,' to ' fill the hand/ as being 
1 a handful'), was assigned as a standard, and hence in time the company 
itself obtained the name of * manipulus,' and the soldier, a member of 
it, was called, ' manipularis.' The omen derived from the flight of the eagle 
was deemed the most auspicious. Hence the figure of that bird was after- 
wards adopted as the standard in preference to those of other animals, 
which, before the time of Marius, were sometimes used for that purpose. 
Gower's version is — 

* They hung in bottles on a pole huge tall, 
From whence our soldiers by that name we call/ 

We may here observe parenthetically, that the expression ' to look for a 
needle in a bottle of hay,' is still sometimes quoted as a proverb, though 
few perhaps now know the origin of the term ' bottle.' It comes from an 
old French word, ' bostel,' with the 's' silent. From this word, too, is 
derived the name of an article of female dress, which is worn at the pre- 
sent day, or, if not, was so at a very recent period. 

23 Five yearly lustra.] — Ver. 120. As a ' lustrum' consisted of five 
years, it would in those times contain but fifty months, and be ten months 
shorter than a modern l lustrum' of five years of twelve months. For the 
purposes of revenue, Servius Tullius instituted the ' census' at the end of 
each five years. When it had been completed, atonement was made for 
the people by the sacrifice of a sow, a sheep, and a bull, and when this 
had been done, the people were said to be cleansed, ' lustrari.' This 
word comes from ' luo,' ' to pay,' because, in those days, the taxes were 
paid to the censors at these periods ; this having been done every fifth 
year, the word ' lustrum' came into use, as signifying the intermediate 
space between the five yearly periods. 



b. in. 124—134.] OR, CALENDAR OF OVID. 93 

forth ; or because we arrive so far as ten, the number in- 
creasing ; and from that point the commencement of a new 
reckoning 29 is made. For that reason did Romulus set apart 
a hundred men of equal standing for each of the ten compa- 
nies, 30 and appointed the ten companies of Hastati, and so many 
men had the Princeps, and so many the Pilanus, 31 and he who 
served on horse-back as required by law. 32 He also assigned as 
many subdivisions 33 to the Titian tribe, and to those whom they 
call the Rhanmes, and to the Luceres. For that reason he ob- 
served the usual numbers in the. formation of the year ; during 
this length of time does the sorrowing wife mourn her husband. 

29 A new reckoning.] — Ver. 126. He alludes to the system of decimal 
notation. 

30 The ten companies.'] — Ver. 127. That is, one hundred men for each 
of the ten companies of * Hastati ; ' one hundred for each of the ten com- 
panies of ' Principes ; ' and one hundred for each of the ten companies of 
' Pilani/-or ' Triarii,' which together formed a legion. The first were the 
younger soldiers, and formed the front rank, as light-armed troops, armed 
with J hastae,' or lances. The second were men of the middle age, and 
from that circumstance had their name, as evincing their superiority in 
strength; these foimed the second rank. The third rank was formed 
of the veterans, who were called from that circumstance * Triarii,' and 
from the use of the * pilum,' or ' javelin,' i Pilani,' The poet calls them 

equals, because the three divisions were made according to age. 

31 The Pilanus.'] — Ver. 129. The word here means the officer com- 
manding the ten centuries of the ' Pilani,' or ' Triarii.' 

32 Required by law.]— Ver. 130. In each legion there were three 
hundred 'equites,' 'knights,' or cavalry. Romulus selected them from the 
most respectable and deserving of his followers, as his body guard. Those 
in each legion were divided into ten 'turmae,' or 'squadrons,' of thirty men 
each. The meaning of the poet, then, seems to be, that Romulus still 
kept in mind the number ten, by dividing the 'equites' into ten companies; 
although they did not consist of one hundred men each. The privileges of 
the 'equites' were, a horse supplied at the public expense, hence called 
'legitimus,' 'required by law;' a gold ring; a separate seat at the public 
spectacles, and the 'tunica angusticulavia,' a tunic with two narrow purple 
stripes running from each shoulder down the front to the bottom of the 

jvdress. The force of each legion was 3000 foot and 300 horse, besides a 
strTL larger number of auxiliaries. 

33 As many subdivisions.] — Ver. 131. Romulus divided his subjects into 
three tribes, and subdivided each of them into ten ' Curiae.' The Ramnenses 
were the original Romans, so called, it is supposed, from Romulus : these 
formed one tribe. The second tribe was that of the Tatienses, or Sabines, 
so called from Titus Tatius, their king. The third was called the ' Luceres,' 
either from those vagrants who had taken refuge in the 'lucus.' or grove 
of the asylum, or because they came from Etruria to aid Romulus, under 
a 'lucumo,' or noble chieftain, named Hostus Hostilius. , 



94 THE FASTI; [b. in. 135— 151. 

And that you may have no doubt but that the Calends of 
March were formerly the first in the year, you may turn 
your attention to these proofs. The laurel branch, which 
has lasted the whole year, is now removed by the Flamens, 
and fresh boughs are raised to the dignity. At this time the 
gate of the king of the sacrifices is green with the tree of 
Phoebus fixed there ; before thy doors, ancient Court-house, 34 
the same thing is done. That Vesta, too, may appear grace- 
ful, wreathed with new foliage, the faded laurel is removed from 
the Ilian hearths. Add to this, that in her secret shrine 35 a new 
fire is said to be now kindled, and the flame refreshed re- 
ceives strength. And the fact is no small proof to me that the 
years of old commenced from this period, that it was in this 
month that Anna Perenna 36 began to be worshipped. From 
this time, too, the ancient honours 37 are said to have been en- 
tered upon, up to the period of the war with thee, perfidious 
Carthaginian. 38 Lastly, the fifth from this was the month 
Quintilis, and from that point commences each month, which has 
its name from its order. Pompilius, invited to Rome 39 from 

34 Ancient Court-house .] — Ver. 140. The four * curia? ' which still sur- 
vived, out of the thirty originally built by Romulus for the use of the ' curiae ' 
of the citizens, were distinguished by the title 'veteres,' It is supposed 
that in lapse of time all the ' curiae ' were used for civil purposes. 

35 Her secret shrine. .] — Ver. 143. Because, not only was it closed 
against the male sex, but against all females as well, except the Vestals, or 
perhaps the chief of the Vestals. 

36 Anna Perenna.] — Ver. 146. For her story see line 523 of this Book, 
where it commences. 

37 The ancient honours.'] — Ver. 147. The author is guilty of a slight 
inaccuracy here, as the first Consuls took office on the 23d day of February; 
and the time fluctuated till a.u.c 600, the end of the third Punic war, 
when the calends of January were fixed for that purpose. 

38 Perfidious Carthaginian.] — Ver. 148. He alludes to Hannibal, to 
whom, in common with his countrymen, he was too ready to apply an 
epithet of abuse. According to the Roman accounts, the people of Car- 
thage were noted for their treachery, whence the term 'Punic faith,' be- 
came a by-word for dishonourable conduct. We have no native records of 
the Carthaginians left, and are consequently ignorant of their opinion of the 
Romans. Had Hannibal been properly supported, Rome would most pro- 
bably have fallen, leaving no native records of her existence, and to Car- 
thage alone and its writers would posterity have had to look for the cha- 
racter of its Italian rival. 

39 Invited to Rome.'] — Ver. 151. Numa was the fourth son of Pompo- 
nius, an eminent Sabine. 'Deductus' implies the ceremony with which 



B. III. 151—164.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 95 

the olive-bearing fields, was the first to perceive that two 
months were wanting ; whether so taught by the Samian 
sage* who considers that we may be born again, or whe- 
ther by the admonition of his own Egeria. But even then 
were the divisions of time inaccurate, until amid many others, 
this too, was a care of Caesar's. 41 He, though a God and 
the father of such a mighty progeny, did not think this a 
task too humble for his attention ; he wished to know before- 
hand the heaven that was promised him, and not, when deified, 
to enter as a stranger into an unknown mansion. He is said, 
by accurate observations, to have arranged the periods of the 
sun, in which he should return to his due signs in rotation. 
He added ten times six, and the fourth part of one whole day 

he was invited and brought to Rome to reign there. The Sabine land was 
famous for its olive trees. From his communion with the goddess Egeria, 
he is said to have obtained an insight, almost supernatural, into things both 
human and divine. 

40 The Samian sage.~\ — Ver. 153. Pythagoras was born in the isle of 
Samos, opposite to Ephesus. He was a pupil of the philosopher Phere- 
cydes, of Scyros, and studied philosophy in Egypt and among the Babylo- 
nian astrologers. He then travelled into Crete and visited Sparta, to 
examine the laws of Minos and Lycurgus. He afterwards visited the colony 
of Magna Graecia, in the south of Italy, and promulgated his doctrines at 
Crotona, Tarentum, and other towns. Numa is generally supposed not to 
have been a cotemporary of Pythagoras. Livy says that the philosopher 
came into Italy in the reign of Servius Tullius, which was 136 years after 
the elevation of Numa to the throne. Dionysius also says that Numa 
reigned 120 years before the time of Pythagoras. Plutarch says that 
Numa received assistance in the compilation of his laws from another 
Pythagoras, a Spartan, who visited Italy. The chief doctrine of Pythagoras 
was the 'metempsychosis/ or transmigration of the soul into another 
body after death. Some of his tenets were similar to those of Numa. 
They would allow of no images of the deity, whom they considered pos- 
sible to be comprehended in the mind only. They did not permit blood 
to enter into their sacrifices, but used only flour and wine for that purpose. 
It did not require a Pythagoras to show Numa that a year consists of 
more than ten months, as he might easily perceive that fact from the 
irregularity with which the seasons would come on, each season in every 
year being two months earlier than on that preceding. 

41 A care of Ccesar , s.~\ — Ver. 186. The year having fallen into great 
confusion, and the festivals frequently happening at the wrong seasons of 
the year, Julius Caesar, then being the Pontifex Maximus, with the aid of 
Sosigines and Marcus Flavins, altered it so that it might, similarly to the 
year of the ^Egyptians, correspond with the course of the sun. See the 
* Introduction.' 



96 THE FASTI; [b. III. 164— 191. 

to the three hundred and fire days. This is the complement 
of the year. To each lustrum there ought to be added one 
day, which is made up of these fractions. 42 

If it be allowed to poets to hear the private intimations of 
the Deities, as report, at least, thinks they may, tell me why it 
is, Gradivus, that while thou art suited to the pursuit 
of men only, the matrons observe thy festival. 43 Thus said 
I, and thus Mavors replied to me, having laid aside his helmet ; 
but there was in his right hand a missile spear. " Now, for 
the first time, am I a Deity, useful to the profession of arms, 
summoned to the pursuits of peace, and I direct my march 
to a strange camp. Nor do I repent of my undertaking ; 
on this department, too, I am delighted to dwell; that Minerva 
may not suppose that she alone can do this. Learn, thou poet 
engaged upon the Latin days, what thou askest, and mark 
my words in thy mindful breast. Rome, if thou wouldst but 
call back to mind her first elements, was small ; yet in her 
thus small, was the promise of the present city. And now 
stood raised the walls of defence, too narrow for the future 
population, but in those days supposed to be too spacious 44 for 
their own multitude. If thou askest what was the palace of 
my son ; behold his house of reeds and straw. 45 On a bed 
of stubble he enjoyed the blessings of calm slumber, and 
yet from that bed came he to the stars. And already had 
the Roman a renown greater than his home, and yet nor 
wife, nor father-in-law had he. The rich neighbours had 
a contempt for poor sons-in-law, and hardly was I be- 
lieved to be the author of their race. To have dwelt under 

42 Of these fractions. ,] — Ver. 166. The fourth part which he mentions 
made up a complete day, which was added to every fourth year as an ad- 
ditional day. When he speaks of a lustrum 'here/ he means a full term 
of four years, and just the commencement of a fifth year, and no more. 

43 Observe thy festival.'] — Ver. 170* On the calends of March the 
Matronalia were celebrated by the matrons in honour of Juno, when they 
sent presents to each other, and received them from their husbands. 

44 Too spacious.] — Ver. 181-2. Gower's version is, 

' Rome's elements were at the first but small, 
Yet has that small great hopes of this great wall/ 

45 Of reeds and straw.] — Ver. 184. They still pointed out, in the time 
of Ovid, a straw-roofed hut on the Palatine hill, which was said to have 
been the abode of Romulus. 



B. in. 191—212.] OR, CALENDAR OE OYID. 97 

the herdsman's roof, and to have tended oxen, and now to 
be masters of but« a few acres of uncultivated soil, was a re- 
proach to them. The fowls of the air and the wild beasts 
pair, each of them with its mate ; the snake too has its female, 
from which to propagate its kind. Intermarriages are granted 
to the remotest tribes ; but there was no woman who was 
willing to marry a man of Borne. I was grieved, and I com- 
municated to thee, Eomulus, thy father's mind. " Cease 
thy prayers," I said, "what thou dost want, arms will supply. 
Prepare a festival to Consus. 46 Consus will tell thee the rest 
that is to be done, on the day on which thou shalt be chaunting 
the sacred songs to him." The people of Cures 47 grew wroth, 
and all those whom the same resentment affected. Then, for 
the first time, did the father-in-law bear arms against his son- 
in-law. And now nearly all the ravished women were bearing 
the name of mother as well, and the wars of states thus neigh- 
bouring were protracted by lengthened duration ; the wives 
met together in an appointed temple, that of Juno ; among 
whom my daughter-in-law 48 thus began to speak — " Ye that 
together with myself have been thus carried away, since this 
character in common we hold, no longer can we with tardi- 
ness be dutiful. The lines of battle are formed, but for 
which side the Gods are to be entreated, choose ye ; on one 
side, the husband, on the other, the father is in arms ; we 
must decide whether we would be widows or orphans. I will 

46 Festival to Consus.'] — Ver. 199. Consus was the god of silence and 
of secrets. By some he has been confounded with the Roman god Neptune. 
It is said that the true name of this divinity was not allowed to be di- 
vulged, and that his name of ' Consus ' was derived from ( conso/ an old 
form of 'consulo/ 'to give counsel,' such being one of his attributes. He 
had a subterranean altar in the Circus, uncovered only at the 'Consualia,' 
and said to have been discovered there by Romulus, having been closed 
since the time of Evander. The ' Consualia/ or festival of Consus, as ap- 
pears from the text, was being celebrated when the rape of the Sabine 
women took place. 

47 People of Cures.] — Ver. 201. Namely, the Sabines ; but before 
they took up arms, the Caminenses, Antemnates, and Crustumini had 
marched against Rome, to revenge the insult which had been inflicted on 
them in common with the Sabines. They were, however, repulsed, and 
then the Sabines took the field, with the result mentioned in the text= 

48 My daughter-in-law .] — Yer. 206. This was Hersilia, one of the 
Sabine women, whom Romulus had married. After her death she was 
deified and worshipped under the name of Hora, as the goddess of youth. 



98 THE FASTI ; [b. hi. 212—242. 

give you advice, which is both energetic and dutiful." She 
had noiv given her advice ; they obey, and unloose their tresses, 
and with funereal garb array their sorrowing persons. The 
lines of battle now stood prepared for the sword and for death, 
and the clarion was on the point of giving the signal for the 
combat, when the women who had been ravished rush between 
their fathers and their husbands, and carry in their bosoms 
their babes, those dear pledges. When they had reached the 
middle of the plain, with their dishevelled locks they fell upon 
the earth with bended knee ; and as though they had con- 
sciousness, the grandchildren, with soothing cry, stretched 
their little arms towards their grandsires. The child that was 
able, called on his grandfather then seen for the first time ; 
and he who scarcely was able, was forced by his mother to 
make an effort. 49 The arms and the fury of the warriors fall 
together, and, their swords now laid aside, the fathers-in-law 
give their hands to their sons-in-law, and receive theirs in re- 
turn. They praise their daughters, and embrace them ; and 
on his buckler the grandsire carries the grandchild : this 
was a more pleasing use for their shields. From that cir- 
cumstance the (Ebalian mothers hold it no unimportant duty to 
celebrate my Calends, the day which is first. Is it not either 
because, daring to trust themselves to the drawn swords, they 
had terminated by their tears the wars of Mars ? Or is it 
because by me, with happy results, Ilia became a mother, 
that the matrons duly observe my sacred rites and my holi- 
day ? And why besides ? It is because now, at length, the 
winter, enwrapped in ice, gives way, and the snows disap- 
pear, overcome by the warmth of the sun. The foliage that 
had been shorn by the frost returns to the trees, and the bud 
full of life sprouts from the tender shoot ; the fruitful blade 
too, which has long lain hid, now finds a hidden path, whereby 
to raise itself to the breezes of heaven. Now is the field 
teeming ; now is the season for breeding the cattle ; now does 

49 To make an effort.~\ — Ver. 224. Literally, 'was obliged to be able/ 
In all probability the meaning is, that the elder children were able to cry 
out ' ave/ \ grandfather/ and the younger ones were obliged to join in the 
general clamour, their mothers forcing them. Taubner thinks that the 
latter were forced by the pinches of their mothers to scream out ' ah! vee ! ' 
(something like our * oh ! oh ! ) whkh sounding like ' aye, they were 
thus compelled perforce to address their grandsires. The suggestion is 
redolent of more trifling ingenuity than probability. 



B. III. 242—264.] OR, CALENDAR OF OVID. 99 

the bird on the bough prepare a shelter and a home. With 
reason do the Latian mothers, whose toils and dearest longings 
the bearing of their progeny occupies, observe this prolific 
season. Add, too, that where, by his soldiery, the Roman 
king was keeping watch and ward, the hill has now the name 
of Esquiliae. 50 There, if I rightly remember, was a temple 
consecrated to Juno for the public use by the Latian ma- 
trons on this day. Why do I delay and burden thy memory 
with various reasons ? See, what thou dost ask is plain before 
thine eyes ; Juno, my mother, favours the married women : 
hence the crowd of the matrons resorts to me ; this reason 
so duteous particularly becomes me. 

Bring flowers to the Goddess : this Goddess takes delight in 
blossoming plants ; with tender flowrets wreathe your heads. 
Say ye : " Thou, Lucina, did'st^ms^ give us the light." Say; 
" Do thou favour the prayers of her who is in travail ;" and if 
any woman is pregnant, let her pray with her tresses untied, 
that the Goddess may gently facilitate her labour. 

Who, now, will tell me why the Salii bear the heavenly 
arms 51 of Mars, and chaunt Mamurius? Tell me, Nymph, 
thou that wast wont to minister to the grove and the lake of 
Diana ; Nymph, wife of Numa, come to thy own festival. 
There is a lake in the valley of Aricia, 52 inclosed by a dark 

50 Esquilice.] — Ver. 246. Ovid seems to hint that this name was de- 
rived from the ' excubiae/ or * watch,' mentioned in the line before ; which 
would seem to be a very far-fetched derivation. Perhaps these watches 
were set there to keep an eye upon the Sabines, at the time when they 
had been but newly received into the number of the citizens. According to 
some authors, this hill derived its name from the word ' excultae,' ' culti- 
vated,' and was added to the city and brought into cultivation by Servius 
Tullius. Varro says that the spot had its plural appellation from its con- 
sisting of two ridges — the Cispian and the Oppian Hills. 

51 Heavenly arms.'] — Ver. 259. The * ancile,' the story of which is 
told in the text ; as also that of the meritorious deeds of Mamurius. The 
ancilia were borne through the city by the Salii on the calends of March. 
These were priests of Mars, an order instituted by Numa to keep the sacred 
shields; they received their name from ' salio,' ' to leap,' or ' dance,' because 
in the procession round the city they danced with the shields suspended 
from their necks. Some writers say that they received their name from 
1 Salius,' an Arcadian, a companion of iEneas, who taught the Italian youths 
to dance in armour. After the processions had lasted some days, the 
shields were replaced in the temple of Mars. 

52 Valley of Aricia.']— Ver. 263. Aricia and its grove were situate at 
the foot of the Alban Mount. Orestes, pursued by the Furies for the 

h2 



100 THE FASTI ; [b. m. 264— 273. 

wood, sanctified by ancient religious awe. Here lies concealed 
Hippolytus, 53 torn asunder by the madness of bis steeds ; for 
which reason that grove is entered by no horses. There the 
threads 54 hang down, veiling the long hedge-rows, and many 
a tablet has been placed to the Goddess found to be deserving 
of it. Ofttimes, the woman having gained her wish, 55 her 
forehead wreathed with chaplets, bears thither from the city 
the blazing torches. Those with daring hand and fleet of 
foot 56 hold there the sway ; and each one perishes in suc- 
cession, after the example he has set. With indistinct 

murder of his mother, consulted the oracle at Delphi how he might escape 
their pursuit ; he was ordered to bring away the image of Diana from 
the Tauric Chersonnesus. Thoas was the king, and by his order all 
strangers that were caught were immolated. Orestes and his friend, 
Pylades, were seized and condemned to death ; on which, Iphigenia, the 
sister of Orestes, wmo was then the priestess of Diana, offered to spare one 
of them if he would convey letters to Greece for her. A contest of friend- 
ship arose as to which should save the other by his death. Pylades at length 
yielded, and consented to carry the letter, which, he found, was directed to 
Orestes himself. On this discovery of her brother, Iphigenia joined in 
their flight, Thoas being first slain ; and, according to Ovid and other 
writers, they brought the image of Diana, and instituted her worship in 
the Arician grove. 

53 Hippolytus.] — Ver. 265. He was falsely charged by his step-mother, 
Phcedra, with a crime, to commit which, she had, without success, solicited 
him. Theseus, his father, uttering imprecations against him, Neptune sent 
a sea monster, which frightened the horses of Hippolytus ; and they, run- 
ning away, dashed him against the rocks and killed him. Being restored 
to life by the art of iEsculapius, he fled to Italy under the name of Virbius, 
and was sheltered by Diana in the Arician grove. 

54 The threads."] — Ver. 267. The 'licia/ or ' threads,' were used for 
suspending the gifts and votive offerings of the worshippers. In Catholic 
countries, and in some parts of England, this practice prevails at the present 
day, in honour of the patron saint of an adjoining spring or well. 

55 Gained her wish.] — Ver. 269. Women, whose prayers to Diana had 
been heard, especially in love matters, used to carry lighted torches from 
the city to the grove of Aricia. 

6 Fleet of foot."] — Ver. 271. To commemorate the flight of Orestes, 
a runaway slave was always appointed to be her high-priest in the grove of 
Aricia, who was called \ Rex Nemorensis,' * the king of the woodland.' 
The term ' with daring hand' alludes to the fact that the priest might, 
according to the usual custom, at any time be murdered by another desirous 
to occupy his place, and hence the necessity arose of his always going 
armed to protect himself from such attacks. This and the cruelties prac- 
tised in the worship of the Tauric Diana, perhaps led to the belief that 
Egeria was identical with the deity. 



B. in. 273— 299.] OB, CALENDAR OF OYLD. 101 

murmur glides a pebbly stream : ofttimes, but in scanty 
draughts, have I drunk thence. It is Egeria who supplies 
the water ; a Goddess pleasing to the Muses ; she was the 
wife and the counsellor of Numa. In the first place, it seemed 
good to her that the Quirites, too ready for war, should be 
softened by justice and the fear of the Gods. For that reason 
laws were given, that the strongest might not obtain supreme 
power ; and the holy rites delivered to the people then began 
to be religiously observed. Their savage nature is now laid 
aside, right is more powerful than arms, and it is considered 
disgraceful to engage in civil strife ; many a person, but 
just now violent, is now changed in character on seeing the 
altar, and offers the wine and the salt spelt cake on the glow- 
ing hearths. Lo ! the father of the Gods is scattering his flash- 
ing lightnings through the clouds, and drains the heavens by 
deluging showers : on no other occasion have the hurled bolts 
of fire fallen more thickly. The king is alarmed, and terror 
takes possession of the breasts of the multitude. To him the 
Goddess says : " Be not unreasonably dismayed ! the lightning 
is to be averted by atonement, and the wrath of the angry 
Jove is easily appeased ; but Picus and Faunus 57 will be able 
to reveal the ceremony of expiation, each of them a Divinity 
of the Roman soil ; but they will not inform thee without force : 
apply chains when thou hast caught them. 5 ' And thus does 
she instruct Numa by what means they may be taken. There 
was at the foot of the Aventine hill 58 a grove, dark with the 
shade of the holm-oak, on seeing which you might readily 
say, " Surely a Divinity dwells here!" In the centre was a 
grassy plot, and, covered over with green moss, a constant 
stream of water trickled from the rock. From this stream 

57 Picus and Faunus.} — Ver. 291. These were ancient deities of 
Latium. They have been mentioned before, both in the text and in the 
notes. 

58 Of the Aventine hill.]—Vvc. 295. This was one of the hills to which 
Rome extended in the later times. It is supposed that its name was 
either derived from Aventinus, son of Romulus Silvius, king of Alba Longa, 
who was buried there. or from 'aves,' 'birds,' which used to flock there. 
Varro says that it was so called because there was a ferry across the 
marshes which separated it from the rest of Rome, by which the pas- 
sengers were carried, ' Advehebantur. ' Servius, on the iEneid (Book 7, 
1. 651), mentions a tradition that it was so called by the Sabines, from 
1 Avens/ a river in their own territorv. 



102 THE F^STI; [b. hi. 299— 327. 

Faunus and Picus were wont generally to drink alone. Hither 
comes king Numa, and sacrifices a sheep to the fountain ; he 
then places for the Gods cups fall of fragrant wine ; and with 
his train lies hid, concealing himself in a grotto. The 
forest Gods come to their accustomed streams, and refresh 
their parched spirits with copious draughts of wine : 59 sleep is 
the consequence of their debauch ; Numa issues forth from 
the cool grotto, and puts the hands of them, thus buried in 
slumber, in tight manacles. When sleep has now departed, 
they strive by struggling to burst the bonds ; as they 
struggle, the more tightly do they hold them. ♦Then Numa 
says : " Gods of the groves, forgive my deed ! inasmuch as 
ye know that impiety is far from my nature ; and point out 
the way in which the lightning may be averted." Thus 
Numa spoke, and thus Faunus replied, shaking his horns : m 
" Thou inquirest on a matter of great difficulty, and which it 
is against the law of heaven for thee to learn by our instruc- 
tion ; our privileges as Deities have their limits. We are the 
Gods of the country, and have our sway on the lofty moun- 
tains ; Jove has full power over his own weapons. Of thyself 
thou wilt not be enabled to bring him down from heaven ; but 
perhaps, by availing thyself of our aid, thou wilt." Faunus 
had thus spoken : the opinion expressed by Picus is the same. 
" But take from us these bonds," says Picus ; " Jove shall 
come hither, brought down from his topmost height ; the 
vaporous Styx shall attest my promise." What they do, when 
released from their bonds, what incantations they repeat, and 
by what art they bring down Jove from his habitations above, 
it is not allowed by heaven for man to know; let things 
permitted be the only subjects of my song, and whatever may 
be repeated by the hps of the poet, without incurring guilt. 
They bring thee down, 61 Jupiter, from the skies ; in conse- 

59 Draughts of wine.] — Ver. 303-4. Gower's version is — 

1 The wood-gods to their old wont came, the bowls 
They turn'd off blithe, and quench'd their thirsty souls/ 

60 Shaking his horns.'] — Ver. 312. To show that it was a matter not 
to be settled in a moment, but requiring much deliberation. 

61 They bring thee down.'] — Ver. 327. It is thought by some that 
Numa discovered the art of conducting the lightning, and rendering it in- 
nocuous in its effects ; and the death of Tullus Hostilius, the third king of 
Rome, is supposed by them to have been owing to his ignorance of the 
proper mode of conducting the electric fluid. 



B. ill. 327— 353.] OH, CALENDAR OF OYII). 103 

quence of which posterity still celebrates thee, and names 
thee Elicius. 62 It is agreed that the tops of the Aventine 
forest then trembled, and the earth yielded beneath the pres- 
sure of the weight of Jove. The heart of the king palpitates ; 
from the whole of his breast the blood has lied, and his brist- 
ling hair stands on end. When his senses have returned, he 
says : "0 thou, both King and Father of the Gods on high ! 
teach me the assured expiations of thy lightnings ; if, with 
guileless hands, I have touched thy altars ; if too, my tongue, 
with true piety, asks this which is now entreated of thee." Jove 
nodded assent to his prayer ; but, without using any circumlo- 
cution, he concealed the truth, and by his equivocal expres- 
sions struck the hero with alarm. " Cut oif a head," says he. 
To whom the king says : " We will obey : an onion, pulled up 
in my garden, must be cut off." 63 "Of a man/' adds the 
God. "Yes, the topmost hairs," answers the other. The God 
demands " a life ;" to whom Numa says : " Yes, of a fish." 
The God laughed and said, " See to it then, that with these 
thou dost propitiate my weapons, man, not to be re- 
pulsed from a conference with the Gods. But to thee, when 
to-morrow's sun shall have raised his full disk, I will give the 
sure pledge of empire." He spoke ; with loud thunderings 
he is borne above the trembling firmament, and leaves Numa 
in the attitude of worship. Joyful he returns, and tells the 
Quirites what had occurred ; credence was given to his 
■words, tardy, and extorted with difficulty. " But surely," 
says he, " I shall be believed if the result follow my words. 
See now, hear ye, every one present, what will happen on the 
morrow. When to-morrow's sun shall have raised his full 

62 EliciusJ] — Ver. 328. From ' elicio,' to ' entice,' l allure,' or ' bring- 
out.' 

63 Must be cut Qf r .~\ — Ver. 340. Meaning, 'It must have its "bulb" or 
"head" taken off.' The conversation seems to have been intended by Ju- 
piter as a test of Numa's ready wit and humane disposition. He bids 
Numa ' Cut off a head.' Numa says, ' Yes, I will ; the head of an onion.' 
' Of a man,' says Jupiter. ' Yes, the topmost hair,' says Numa, implying 
obedience to the original command, as to the cutting off of the head ; but 
dexterously substituting ' capilli,' ' the hair,' for 'caput,' ' the head,' which 
were often used synonymously. The god, detecting the pun, presses him 
closer, and demands a life ; on which Numa says, ' Yes, you shall have a 
life, but it must be. that of a fish.' Plutarch says the fish was the ' maena,' 
a kind of pilchard, which seems to have been a favourite ingredient in 
the ' materiel' of incantation. See Book 2, 1. 578. 



104 THE FASTI; [b. in. 353— 381. 

disk, Jupiter will give the sure pledge of empire." They re- 
tire in doubt ; his promise seemed likely to be of slow per- 
formance, and their belief depends on the approaching day. 

The earth was still soft, and bedewed with the hoar-frost of 
the morning ; the people are present before the threshold of 
their king. He comes forth and seats himself in the midst on 
a throne of maple-wood; 64 around him stand the men in 
countless numbers, and hold their peace. Phoebus had now 
but risen with his upper edge ; their anxious minds are in a 
state of agitation through hope and fear. He stands, and his 
head veiled 65 with a snow-white robe, he raises his hands al- 
ready not unfamiliar hi worship to the Gods; and thus he speaks 
— " The time of the promised favour is drawing nigh ; confer, 
Jupiter, upon thy words the promised fulfilment. 55 While 
he was speaking, the sun had just raised from the deep his 
entire disk, and from the pole of heaven there came a heavy 
peal ; thrice did the God thunder without a cloud ; thrice 
did he dart his lightnings. Believe what I tell ; I speak 
of things wondrous, but realities. The heavens began to 
open in the midst ; the multitude, with their monarch, 
cast down their eyes. Behold! there falls a shield, gently 
poised on the lightsome breeze ; a shout from the people 
ascends to the stars. The king raises the gift from the 
ground, having first offered a heifer, which had never yielded 
his neck to be pressed by the yoke. He entitles it ' ancile, 5 
because it is pared away 66 at every point, and whichever 
way you look at it, every corner is off. Then, mindful that 
the destiny of empire depends upon this, he forms a plan of 
much cunning. He orders several 67 to be made, engraved of a 

64 Throne of maple wood."] — Ver. 359. The wood of the maple was 
held by the ancients in the highest esteem, next to that of the cedar, on 
account of its hardness and the closeness of its grain. 

65 His head veiled.] — Ver. 363. The Romans covered their heads when 
praying or performing any religious lite, in order that nothing of ill omen 
should present itself to the view of the devotee. See iEneid, bookiii. 1. 405. 

66 Because it is pared away. .] — Ver. 375. In the old Latin, 'ancisus,' or 
' arncisus,' means ' having the edges cut off.' Ovid means to say, that 
from this word, the shield received the name of 'ancile/ Its shape, as repre- 
sented on a gem in the Florentine cabinet, was oblong, each of the two sides 
receding inwards, with an even curvature, so as to make it broader at the 
ends than in the middle, and thus it presented a curved edge on every side. 

67 He orders several.] — Ver. 381. Ovid says, several. Dionysius says, 
very many. Other writers say eleven, and that Mamurius made them so 



B. in. 381—397.] OR, CALE1STDAR OF OY1D. 105 

similar shape, that a deception may meet the eyes of those 
plotting to steal it, Mamurius, whether more distinguished 
for his probity or for his skill as a workman, it is hard 
for one to say, completed that task. To him the munifi- 
cent Numa said, " Ask thy own reward for thy work ; as my 
truthfulness is well known, thou shalt ask for nothing in 
Vain/ 5 Already had he given to the Salii (from their dancing 
do they derive their name) both arms, 68 and words to be sung 
to certain measures. Then thus Mamurius says, " Let fame 
be given to me as my reward, and let my name be mentioned 
at the end of their strain." From that circumstance do the 
priests pay the reward promised for the ancient workmanship, 
and call upon Mamurius. 69 

If by any chance you should desire to marry, though 
both of you should be impatient, postpone it; 70 a short 
delay has its great advantages. Arms stir up the fight — the 
fight is unsuited to the newly wedded ; when arms shall 
have been laid by, there will be a more suitable omen. On 
these days, too, ought the wife of the mitred 71 Dialis, 

skilfully, that Numa was unable to perceive the difference. Plutarch says 
that Numa left the work of imitation to be a subject of competition among 
all the Roman artists. Gower's version of this passage is : — 
' Of shields like shap'd he bids to make a dozen, 
That so an error might the couzener couzen/ 

68 Both arms.] — Ver. 388. The dress of the Salii was an embroidered 
tunic, with a brazen belt, the * trabea' and l apex,' or tufted conical cap ; 
each had a sword by his side, and a spear or staff in his hand. They car- 
ried the ' ancilia' in the left hand, or suspended from their shoulders, 
and, while dancing, struck them with their rods or swords, keeping time 
with their voices and the movements of the dance. Their verses con- 
tained, it is supposed, a kind of rude theogony or history of the Gods, 
with the exception of Venus, who was omitted from their praises. 

69 Mamurius.] — Ver. 392. Some regard this story as utterly fabulous, 
and Varro believes their mention of 'Veturius Mamurius 7 to be only an ap- 
peal to ' vetus memoria,' ' ancient tradition/ 

70 Postpone it.] — Ver. 394. As the • ancilia/ which were emblems of 
war, were carried about on the Ides of March, it was not considered auspi- 
cious to marry, or to commence a journey, or indeed, any matter of import- 
ance on that day. 

1 Of the mitred.] — Ver. 397. ' Apicati/ literally wearing the * apex. 
This was a cap worn by the Flam ens and the Salii. The name properly 
belonged to a pointed piece of olive wood, the base whereof was surrounded 
with wool. This was held on the head by fillets, or by a cap, which was 
fastened by two bands, called l apicula/ or * offendices/ The cap was of 



106 THE FASTI ; [b. hi. 397—420. 

clad in her flame-coloured gown, to wear her hair all un- 
braided. 

When the third night rising from the deep shall have raised 
its fires, one of the two Fishes will be concealed. For there are 
two — the one near to the southern, the other to the northern 
winds ; each takes its name from its neighbouring wind. 

When the bride of Tithomis, with rosy cheeks, shall have 
begun to shed her dews, and shall urge on the hours of the 
fifth day, whether that Constellation is styled Arctophylax, or 
whether the lazy Bootes, he shall be plunged in the deep, and 
shall elude your view. 

But not so the Vintager. It is but a trifling delay to relate 
whence this Constellation derives its origin. Bacchus is said, 
among the heights of Ismarus, to have loved the long-haired 
Ampelos, 72 offspring of the Satyrs and of a Nymph. To him he 
gave, pendant from the foliage of an elm, a vine, which still 
has its name from that of the youth. While he is heedlessly 
gathering the blushing grapes on a branch, he falls ; him thus 
lost to earth, Bacchus conveys among the stars. 

When the sixth Sun from the ocean climbs the steep of 
Olympus, and on his winged steeds traverses the skies, who- 
ever thou be that art present, and art paying homage to the 
shrines of hoary Vesta, place both the goblet and the incense 
on the Ilian hearth. To the countless titles of Caesar was 

a conical form, and was generally made of sheep-skin, with the wool on ; 
and from the ' apex,' on its summit, it at last acquired that name also. 
The Flaminica, or wife of the Flamen Dialis, wore a scarlet or flame-co- 
loured robe, called ' venenatum/ from ' venerium/ ' dye/ and also the 
1 rica/ or crimson hood, a square cloak, with a border, to which was at- 
tached a slip, cut from a ' felix arbor.' On certain days she was not al- 
lowed to cut her nails, or comb her hair, to which fact the poet here 
makes allusion. 

72 Ampelos.'] — Ver. 409. The story of Ampelos is differently told by 
other writers. According to them, Ampelos was a youth, the companion 
of Bacchus. Contrary to the advice of that god, he persisted in sporting 
with the wild beasts. Ate, the goddess of revenge, persuaded him to 
torment a bull; and doing so, he provoked the moon, who, in her anger, sent 
a gad-fly to sting the bull, when Ampelos fell and broke his neck. Bacchus 
appealed to the ' Parcae/ or Fates, and Atropos promised to restore Ampelos 
to him in another form. Forthwith a vine, d/j.7re\oc, was produced, laden 
with grapes ; Bacchus and the Satyrs discovered the invention of wine, and, 
in their exultation, became intoxicated. Ismarus was a mountain of 
Thrace, near the river Hebrus. 



B. in. 420—444.] OB, CALEKDAE. OY OYID. 107 

added on this day the honour which he most desired to merit 73 
— that of the Pontificate. Over the eternal fires presides the 
divinity of the immortal Csesar ; thou here beholdest the 
united pledges of the empire's safety. From the ashes of an- 
cient Troy came the most worthy relic, laden with which, iEneas 
was safe from the foe. A priest descended from iEneas 
claims an alliance with thy Deity ; Vesta, do thou preserve 
his kindred person. 74 Well do ye thrive, ye fires, which with 
sacred hand he tends ; undying, live on, both thou sacred 
flame, and thou Prince, I pray. 

There is one distinction for the Nones of March, that on 
them they believe that the temple of Vejovis, before you 
reach the two groves, 75 was consecrated, when Romulus sur- 
rounded the grove with a high stone wall. " Hither fly, who- 
ever you are," says he, " and you shall be in safety." Oh ! 
from how low an origin has the Roman grown ! How little 
an object of envy was that ancient multitude ! 

Lest, however, the strangeness of the name be an obstacle 
to you in your ignorance, learn who this Deity is, and why he 
is so called. He is the youthful Jupiter ; mark his youthful 
aspect : mark, too, his hand ; it wields no thunder-bolts. 
The thunder-bolt was assumed by Jupiter after the attempt of 
the giants to attain to the skies ; in early times he was un- 
armed. Ossa blazed with new flames, and Pelion higher than 
Ossa, and Olympus rooted in the solid earth. A she goat 
stands, 76 too, beside him ; the nymphs of Crete are said to 

~ 3 Most desired to merit.} — Ver. 419. Augustus desired this dignity, 
that he might appear to stand high in the favour of the gods. He was 
appointed Pontifex Maximus, a.u.c. 740, in the place of Lepidus. This 
officer lived in a house at the public expense, called the ' Regia,' or 
* palace.' Augustus gave this up, in his Pontificate, to the Vestal Virgins. 

? 4 His kindred person.} — Ver. 426. This passage has puzzled many of 
the commentators ; hut it does not appear very clearly where the diffi- 
culty lies. The poet repeatedly calls the fire of Vesta the i Ilian,' or 
Trojan fires. He also addresses Augustus, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, 
as descended from iEneas ; and he seems here only to allude to the fact 
of both being able to trace back their origin to the city of Troy. 

' 5 The two groves.} — Ver. 430. The space between the Arx and the 
Capitolium, where the Asylum and the temple of Vejovis were, was called, 
according to Livy, booki. c. viii., and Dionysius, ' Inter duos lucos,' ' Be- 
tween the two groves/ 

7 6 A she goat stands.] — Ver. 443. This fact goes far to confirm the 
poet's opinion that ' Vejovis' means * the young Jove ; s as Jupiter in his 



108 THE FASTI; [b. in. 444— 157. 

have nurtured him ; a she-goat furnished milk for the in- 
fant Jove. Now I am called upon to explain the name ; the 
country-women call wheat, which has grown up but indiffer- 
ently, " vegrandia," and when small in the grain, they style 
it " vesca." 77 If that is the force of the word, " ve," why 
should I not imagine that the temple of Vejovis is the 
temple of the little Jupiter ? 

And now, when the stars shall bespangle the azure sky, 
look upwards, and you shall see the neck of the Gorgon 
steed. 78 He is believed to have sprung forth, his mane be- 
sprinkled with blood, from the teeming neck of the slain 
Medusa. With him, as he soared above the clouds and be- 
neath the stars, the heavens were as the ground, his wings 
were in place of feet. And now had he taken the strange curb 
in his fretting mouth, when his lightsome hoof struck forth 
the Aonian fountains. 79 Now does he enjoy that heaven which 

infancy was suckled by the goat Amalthea. He also attempts to prove it 
from the circumstance, that there Jupiter is represented at a time -when 
he had not yet learned to wield his thunderbolts, and that ' ve' was an 
old Latin word, in all cases found to express diminutiveness. Some suppose 
that ' ve' is here applied to the name of Jupiter in a bad sense, as ' the 
evil' or ' the incensed' Jove, on which account his statue was armed 
with arrows, for the purposes of mischief, Mr. Keightly, in his Mytho- 
logy of Greece and Italy, thinks that ' Vejovis' and ' Vedius' mean the 
same deity, their name meaning the i injurious Jupiter,' and that he was a 
god of the world below. Vedius, however, would appear to bear the same 
relation to Pluto, 'Dis,' that Vejovis does to Jupiter, whatever that relation 
may have been. 

V ' Vesca.'~\ — Ver. 446. From ' ve' ' not,' and ' esca' ' food,' as af- 
fording but little nourishment. ' Vegrandis' is, according to the poet's 
etymology, from ' ve,' ' not,' ' grandis,' ' large,' or ' of full growth.' 

' 8 The Gorgon steed.) — Ver. 450* The poet describes the Heliacal 
rising of Pegasus on the. nones. He was so called from Trnyi), 'a 
fountain,' as having been born near the springs of the ocean. Medusa, 
one of the Gorgon sisters, was pregnant by Neptune, and when Perseus 
slew her and cut off her head, Pegasus sprung from the blood ; hence the 
poet's expression, ' the teeming neck.' He was tamed and presented to 
Bellerophon to assist him in the conquest of the Chimaera. Ovid, Metarn., 
4, 785, says that Perseus was mounted on Pegasus when he slew the sea- 
monster to which Andromeda was exposed. Minerva, in her vengeance 
against Medusa, who had been previously remarkable for the beauty of 
her hair, changed it into serpents, and doomed all who looked on her face 
to the penalty of being turned into stone. Perseus, with the aid of the 
gods, destroyed her while sleeping. 

79 The Aonian fountains .] — Ver. 456. Pegasus was caught and tamed 



b. in. 457— 475 ] OH, CALENDAR OF OTID. 109 

formerly lie sought by his wings, and he glitters, refulgent with 
fifteen stars. 

Forthwith on the succeeding night you will see the Gnossian 
crown ; so by reason of the crime of Theseus 81 was Ariadne 
made a Goddess. Already had the damsel, to her advantage, 
obtained Bacchus in exchange for her foresworn spouse, she 
who had given to her ungrateful husband the clue to be re- 
traced. Exulting at the good fortune of her marriage, she 
said, " What was I mourning for, like a country lass as I 
was ? It was a good thing for me that he was faithless/' 
In the mean time, Bacchus, 82 with his well-trimmed locks, con- 
quers the Indians, 83 and returns enriched from the Eastern 
world ; among the captive maidens of distinguished beauty, 
the daughter of the king was too pleasing to Bacchus. His 
loving wife indulged in weeping, and as she paced the winding 
shore, with her hair all loose, she uttered such words as 
these : — " Lo now a second time, ye billows, hear a like com- 
plaint ! Lo ! a second time, ye sands, receive my tears as 
they fall, I used to cry, I remember, ' Foresworn and faith- 
less Theseus !' He is gone ; Bacchus now incurs the like 
guilt. ' Now, too,' will I exclaim, ' let woman put no trust in 

by Bellerophon, -who was thrown off from him by Jupiter, and, falling in 
Cilicia, was struck with blindness. By striking with his hoof Mount 
Helicon, in Aonia, a part of Bceotia, the fountain called Hippocrene, 
\ttitov Kprjvrj, or 'the horse fountain,' was opened. 

80 Gnossian crown.~\ — Ver. 460. Minos, the father of Ariadne, reigned 
at Gnossus, in the isle of Crete. 

81 Theseus.'] — Ver. 460. He was the son of iEthra and iEgeus, and was 
sent from Athens to Crete, as one of the seven chosen youths to be devoured 
by the Minotaur. By the aid of Ariadne, he tracked the Labyrinth where the 
monster had his abode, and slew him. He sailed from Crete with his com- 
panions and with Ariadne and seven other damsels ; but he cruelly aban- 
doned her to whom he was indebted for his life, on the island of Naxos. 

82 Bacchus*] — Ver. 465. Here called ' Liber.' This name was given 
him either from ' libo/ ' to make a libation/ or from ' libero/ ' to set free/ 
because he liberates the mind from cares, or from the Greek words Xvsiv 
fiaprj, i to loosen the weights/ i. e. of care and despondency. He is called 
1 Depexus/ ' combed down/ or ' well-trimmed/ in allusion either to his 
youth or the effeminacy of his character. 

83 The Indians.] — Ver. 465. The conquests of Bacchus in the east 
are said to have extended to the river Ganges. His army consisted of 
a troop of Bacchanals, his conquests were without blood, and he taught 
the conquered nations the use of the vine, the art of tilling the earth, and 
of preparing honey for food. He was accompanied on this expedition by 
Silenus and Lusus. 



110 THE FASTI; [b. in. 475— 500. 

man ; ' change but the name, and my case has been repeated. 
0, would that my destiny had kept on the course on which it 
had before commenced, and that now, at this moment, I had 
been no more ! Why, Bacchus, didst thou preserve me when 
about to die on the lonely sands 1 I could then have ended 
my sorrows at once. Ah ! Bacchus, thou unstable one ! yes, 
more unstable even than the leaves that encircle thy temples ; 
Bacchus, known to my sorrow, didst thou dare, by bringing 
thy paramour before my very eyes, to disturb a union before 
so harmonious. Alas! where is thy plighted faith? 84 
Where all that thou wast wont to swear ? Ah ! wretched 
me ! How often do I repeat these words. Thou wast wont 
to blame Theseus, and thou thyself didst use to call him 
a deceiver ; by thy own judgment thou art guilty of a greater 
crime. May no man know this, and by secret anguish 
may I be consumed, lest I may be supposed to have deserved 
to be thus often beguiled. Above all, I would wish it to be 
concealed from Theseus, lest he should rejoice that thou art 
a partaker of his guilt. But, I suppose, a paramour of 
fair complexion 85 was preferred to me, because of my swarthy 
hue ; be then that colour the lot of my enemy. But what 
matters that ? She is the more pleasing to thee, from 
this very defect. What art thou doing ? She contaminates 
thy very embrace. Bacchus, fulfil thy pledge, and prefer 
no woman before the love of a wife, one who was 
ever accustomed to love her husband. The horns of a 
handsome bull captivated my mother ; thy horns, me ; S6 
they commend me ; the other was a disgraceful pas- 

84 Thy 'plighted faith.'] — Ver. 485-6. Gower's version is — 
* Ah ! where's thy faith ? Those solemn vows indented. 

Ah me ! how oft have I these dirges vented/ 

85 Of fair complexion. — Ver. 493. This is meant ironically, as Bacchus 
would not be very likely to meet with a ' Candida pellex' in his Indian 
excursion, unless, indeed, he took Georgia or Circassia in his road. 

86 Thy horns , me.'] — Ver. 500. Bacchus was frequently represented 
with horns. He seems to have been worshipped by the Thracians and the 
Phrygians under the name of Sabazius and in the form of an ox. — Keight- 
ley's Mythology of Greece and Rome, p. 168. Neptune gave Minos a 
bull, which, on account of its beauty, he refused to sacrifice to the god. On 
this, Neptune inspired Pasiphae, the daughter of Minos, with love for the 
animal, and the Minotaur, half man and half beast, was the fruit of this 
passion. Perhaps the truth is, that Pasiphae had an intrigue with a 
person named Taurus (which also signifies in Latin ' a bull'), and had 
twins by him, whom she named Minos and Taurus. 



B. in. 501— 520.] OR, CALENDAR OP OVID. Ill 

siou. Let not my love prove an injury to me ; for, 
Bacchus, it was no harm to thee that thou thyself didst con- 
fess thy love. And,, indeed, thou dost nothing strange in 
kindling a flame s7 in me : in fire thou art said to have been 
born, ss and from fire to have been snatched, by the hand of 
thy father. I am she to whom thou wast wont to promise 
heaven ; Ah, me ! instead of heaven, what kind of gifts am I 
now receiving V She had said ; for a long time had Bacchus 
been listening 89 to her words while thus complaining, as 
by chance he had been following after her. He clasps her 
in his embraces, and, with kisses, dries away her tears, and 
he says, " Together, let us seek the heights of heaven ;" 
united to me in wedlock, thou shalt take a united epithet. 90 
Henceforth, thy name altered shall be Libera. I will cause, 
too, that with thee there shall be a memorial of thy crown, 
which Vulcan gave to Venus, she to thee. He keeps his 
word, and transforms its nine jewels into stars ; by means of 
nine stars it still glitters in its golden radiance. 

When he who bears the purple day upon his rapid car shall 
have completed six risings, and as many settings of his orb, 
then shall you behold the second Equiria on the grassy plain 
which Tiber bounds on its verge with its winding waters. 

37 Kindling aflame.'] — Ver. 503. There is a play here upon the word 
' uro/ ' to burn/ which also means, in a figurative sense, * to inflame with 
passion/ 

88 To have been born.'] — Ver. 504. Semele, the mother of Bacchus, at 
the instigation of Juno, bound Jupiter by an oath to grant her request, 
and then desired that he would present himself to her, accompanied by 
his lightnings and celestial effulgence. Unable to endure his presence, she 
was consumed in the flames, and Bacchus, with whom she was then eight 
months pregnant, was snatched by the nymph Dirce from the flames, 
and placed in the thigh of Jupiter until the remaining month was accom- 
plished. 

9 Was Bacchus listening.] — Ver. 508-9. Gower's version of these 
lines is — 

i She ended. Bacchus all the while did mind her 
Lamenting, as, by chance, he came behind her. 
He clips her waste, and tears with kisses dries/ 

90 A united epithet.]— Ver. 511. Ovid is the only writer that identifies 
Ariadne with the goddess * Libera/ Cicero and other Latin authors make 
her to be the same with Proserpine. Perhaps she was originally a distinct 
deity ; but, in consequence of the similarity of their offices and of their 
ceremonials, in lapse of time they became confounded. 



112 THE FASTI ; [b. hi. 521— 534. 

But if perchance this shall be covered by the flooding wave, 
then let the dusty Cselian plain 91 receive the steeds. 

On the Ides is the mirthful festival of Anna Perenna, not 
far from thy banks, thou Tiber, 92 that flowest from afar. The 
common people assemble, and carouse scattered in every quar- 
ter on the green grass ; 93 each with his sweetheart is there 
reclining. Some spend their time in the open air, some pitch 
their tents ; by some a leafy bower is formed of branches. 
Some, when they have fixed up reeds there in the stead of solid 
columns, place over them their garments spread out. Yet, 94 
with the sun and the wine, do they wax warm ; they pray for 
years as many in number as the cups they quaff, and reckon 
on as they drink. There you will meet with the man who 
can drink off the years of Nestor ; 95 the woman who be- 

91 Dusty Ccelian plain.'] — Ver. 522. We have already observed that 
when the Tiber overflowed the Campus Martius, the races were run upon 
a spot which formed part of the Caelian hill. It was originally called 
* Querquetulanus/ from its oaks, ' quercus,' with which trees it abounded. 
Its later name was derived from Cselus Vibennius, an Etrurian, who 
assisted Romulus against the Sabines, and received this piece of ground as 
his reward. 

92 Thou Tiber."] — Ver. 524. This spot was called the grove of Anna 
Perenna, and was between the Milvian bridge and the point of confluence 
of the Tiber and the river Anio. He calls the Tiber, f advena/ 
1 stranger/ (here rendered, ' flowing from afar,) because it took its rise in 
the Apennines, which, at the time when Rome was founded, formed almost 
the central part of Etruria. 

93 On the green grass.] — Ver. 525-6. This festival, in its excess of 
revelry and many other characteristics, seems to have been a sort of 
Roman Greenwich Fair. ' Cum pare sua' is literally ' with his equal/ or 
' his mate/ It is as likely to mean 'a sweetheart' as 'a wife/ perhaps, 
from the nature of the carousals, a little more so. Gower translates 
these two lines thus — 

' All sorts together flock ; and on the ground 
Displaid, each marrow by her make drinks round/ 

The word ' marrow' is still used in the north of England, to signify * an 
equal/ or ' one of a pair/ * Make/ is the old form of the word, i mate.' 

94 Yet.] — Ver. 531. That is to say, * in spite of the exposure of most 
of them to the open air/ or, as Mr. Stanford suggests, ' notwithstanding 
the shade they had formed by extending their cloaks upon the upright 
reeds, and their reclining beneath them.' 

95 The years of Nestor.] — Ver. 533. He speaks with a fair allow- 
ance of poetic license when he says that some are to be seen who 
can quaff as many cups (cyathi) as Nestor had years. Nestor was the 
son of Eleus, and was king of Pylos. He assisted Pirithoiis against 



b. in. 534— 542.] OR, CALENDAR OF OVID. 113 

comes old as the Sibyl by the number of lier cups. There, 
too, they sing whatever snatches they have picked up at the 
theatres, and move their pliant arms 96 in time to their words. 
And now, having laid aside the bowl, they trip 97 the uncouth 
dance, and many a gaily dressed wench skips about with her 
locks flowing. When they return to their seats, they stagger, 
and are a gazing sight for the mob, and the multitude that 
meets them pronounces them to be glorious souls. I myself 
met them lately ; the procession seemed to me one that was 
worthy to be mentioned again. A drunken old hag was drag- 
ging after her a drunken old man. 93 

the Centaur, and afterwards shared in the Grecian expedition against 
Troy. The poets say that he was then in his two hundredth year, as being 
in the third generation, ykvea. This is an error, as that term signified but 
thirty years: consequently we may allow him ninety years, which number 
must have pretty well taken up the day of the drinker. It must, however, 
be remembered, that the 'cyathus' was a definite measure, being one-twelfth 
part of a sextarius, which was not quite a pint, and that it was conse- 
quently less than one-third of our common gill. Pliny, in his Natural 
History, Book xiv. c. 22, s. 26, speaks of Noveilus Torquatus Mediolanensis, 
who obtained the cognomen of 'Tricongius,' from his drinking three 'congii 7 
of wine at one sitting. The ' congius ? held six ' sextarii/ or nearly six 
pints. It is a matter in dispute among antiquarians, whether the vessel 
called 'cyathus' means the cup from which the Romans drank, or the ladle 
with which the cups were filled from the bowl, corresponding with our 
punch-ladle, or rather, in capacity, with the toddy-ladles of the Scotch. 
'Bibere ad numerum,' 'to drink their number,' would seem most probably 
to refer to the number of ladlefuls that were placed at one sitting in the 
drinking-glass, or cup, of each person. 

96 Move their pliant arms.] — Ver. 536. In all ages it seems to be a 
prevalent notion with the unrefined, that the dance cannot be graceful or 
complete without the continual and independent action of the arms and 
elbows. As a proof, witness a Highlander dancing a fling, an Irishman a 
jig, or a Northumbrian peasant a reel. 

97 They trip."] — Yer. 539. Gower's version is as follows : 

' Bowk set aside, each with his trickt-up lass, 
Whose hairs are loosened, trips it on the grass/ 

98 A drunken old man.] — Ver. 542. Heinsius, Burmann, and other 
commentators, think that some lines are wanting after this, as the poet 
seems by his words to promise a longer story. Burmann supposes that 
the monkish transcribers omitted them on account of their indelicacy. Why 
they should all have agreed to make this omission in the numerous manu- 
scripts which still exist, it is difficult to conceive, as no such fastidiousness 
seems to have actuated them in transcribing the works of Juvenal, Martial, 
or Ausonius, writers of far more gross diction than Ovid. There appears 
no occasion for such a supposition, as the sense seems complete without 

I 



114 THE FASTI; [b. hi. 542—559. 

But as to the question who this Goddess is, since there is a 
wide difference between the accounts, no one of the stories 
shall be unnoticed according to my purpose. The wretched 
Dido 89 had been consumed by her love for iEneas ; she had 
been consumed also on the funeral pile which she had built 
up for her own destruction : her ashes, too, had been col- 
lected, and on the marble tablet of her tomb was this brief 
epitaph, which she herself left when dying : — " iEneas fur- 
nished both the cause of death and the weapon ; Dido fell by 
her own hand." Forthwith the Numidians invade the realm, 
now without a defender. The Moor Iarba possesses himself 
of the captured palace ; and remembering how he had been 
rejected, he cries, " Only see, how I, whom she so often re- 
pulsed, am now enjoying the chamber of Elissa!" The 
Tyrians fly in different directions, wherever each in his wan- 
derings is led, as when at times the bees stray about unsettled, 
having lost their king. Thrice had the threshing floor re- 
ceived the harvest to be beaten out, and thrice had the must 
been poured into the hollow vats. 1 Anna is driven from her 

having recourse to it. The poet appears to mean, that they put aside their 
drinking, and stand up, perhaps at some distance, for a dance ; that, after the 
excitement of the dance, combined with the wine, has made them dizzy, they 
return to their places where they were sitting before, and as they can hardly 
stand up, their companions call them merry souls. He then seems to say 
that he was one day walking in this Greenwich Park of Rome, and he per- 
haps heard some shouting, and saw a crowd. He stopped to see what it 
was. He found that it was a troop of people running along in company with 
a drunken old woman, who had hold of a drunken old man (probably her 
husband), and who from the dance were reeling back to their seats, per- 
haps within the 'tentorial This mob, then, was the 'porapa,' and the rich- 
ness of the scene — this much ado about nothing — made it 'digna relatu,' 
4 worthy of mention.' 'Pompa' means literally 'a troop in procession, 
escorting or attending upon some other person or object,' and he may use 
it here in an ironical sense. 

99 Dido.~\ — Ver. 545. The story of Dido and iEneas is recounted at 
length in the iEneid of Virgil, from his kind reception by her in the First 
Book, to his base betrayal and desertion of her in the Fourth Book. Virgil, 
however, does not seem to think that by his acts in this matter he at all 
forfeited his claim to the title of 'pius iEneas.' Elissa was her original 
name: she was called 'Dido' after her death. In the Punic tongue the latter 
word signified 'the bold woman.' 

1 The hollow vats.} — Ver. 558 - . 'Lacus' means literally 'ponds,' or 
'lakes.' This was the name given to all tubs or casks for liquor, especially 
the vat into which the wine flowed when pressed. The 'must,' 'mustum,' 
wau the juice of the grape when just pressed out. 



B. III. 559— 576.] OK, CALENDAR OF OYID. 115 

home, and creeps as she leaves her sister's walls ; yet first she 
performs the funereal offices for her sister. The light ashes 
soak up the perfumes 2 mixed with her tears, and receive the 
locks cut from her head as an offering. Thrice, too, did she 
say, "Farewell;" thrice did she press the ashes brought 
close to her lips, and in them her sister seemed to be present. 
Having found a bark, 3 and a companion of her flight, she sails 
along straight before the wind, 4 as she looks back upon those 
walls, the loved work of her sister. Near to the barren Cosyra 
is the fruitful isle of Melite, 5 which the billow of the Libyan 
sea dashes against. For this isle she makes, relying upon her 
former terms of friendship 6 with the king ; Battus, her friend, 
abounding in wealth, was the ruler there. After he had 
learned the misfortunes of each of the two sisters, he says, 
" This land, such as, small as it is, thou mayst find it to be, is 
thine." And, in fact, he would, to the very last, have observed 
the duties of hospitality, had he not feared the great power 
of Pygmalion. 7 Twice had the sun revisited his Constella- 
tions ; the third year was speeding onward, and a new land 



2 Soak up the perfumes.'] — Ver. 561. The ancients were accustomed 
to pour wine and oils of great value on the ashes of the dead. They also 
cut from the head handfuls of hair, which they threw on the funeral pile. 

3 Having found a bark.] — Ver. 565. Some accounts state, that Anna 
was obliged to fly instantly upon her sister's death from the wrath of 
Iarbas: and that Dido put herself to death to escape his vengeance, 
excited by her determined refusal of an alliance with him. 

4 Straight before the wind.] — Ver. 565. Or, as the sailors say, 'with the 
wind right aft.' The 'pes' here mentioned was the 'halser/ or 'rope/ sus- 
pended from the lower angles of the sail, by which it might be hauled to 
the wind, or hauled in or veered out at pleasure. The expression is lite- 
rally, 'with the halser on a level/ probably with the deck, from which 
position the wind blowing on either side would cause it to swerve. 

5 Melite.] — Ver. 567. This is the island o£ Malta, in the Mediterranean. 
There was also an island of that name in the Adriatic sea, which is now 
called Melida. Cosyra, now called Gozzo, is a barren, rocky island, be- 
tween Sicily and the coast of Africa, about seven leagues in length. 

6 Terms of friendship.] — Ver. 569. Melita had been colonized by the 
Phoenicians. Battus was the son of Polymnestus and Phronime. His name 
was Aristoteles, but he was called Battus from having an impediment in 
his speech. 

7 Pygmalion.] — Ver. 574. He was the son of Pygmalius, and brother 
of Dido and Anna. According to others, he was the son of Belus, He 
murdered Sichseus, the husband of Dido, to obtain his wealth, on which 
Dido and Anna fled from Tyre, where he reigned. 

12 



116 THE FASTI ; [b. hi 576—604. 

must be sought by the exiles. " Thy brother is at hand, and 
assails us in war/' says the king, who detested arms ; " we 
are not prepared for warfare ; fly and preserve thyself." At 
his bidding she flies, and to wind and waves she trusts her 
bark ; her brother was more cruel than any sea. Near to 
the fishy streams of the craggy Crathis, 8 there is a little spot ; 
the people that inhabit it call it Camere. Thither was her 
course directed ; and now she was not further oif from it than 
the distance which at nine casts a sling might throw. The 
sails fall first, and are flapped to and fro by the fitful gale. 
" Cleave the waters with your oars !" cries the pilot ; and while 
they are preparing to furl their canvass with the twisted tackle, 
the crooked poop is struck by a violent blast from the south ; 
the ship is borne out into the open sea, and the land which 
they had seen, now retreats from their eyes. The billows 
dash against them, the ocean is upturned from its lowest 
depths, and the hold of the vessel ships the foaming seas. Skill 
is baffled by the winds ; the steersman now foregoes 9 the use 
of the helm ; but he, as well as the others, asks help in prayer. 
The exile of Phoenicia is tossed over the swelling billows, and 
with her garments held close she covers her tearful eyes. 
Then for the first time was Dido pronounced happy by her 
sister, and whoever in death has pressed with his body any 
spot of land. By a heavy blast, the vessel is dashed upon the 
Laurentine shore, and all having disembarked in time, it 
perishes, engulfed in the ocean. 

Already had the pious iEneas been blessed with the throne 
and the daughter of Latinus, and had blended the two nations. 9 * 
While along the shore, which he had gained as a dowry, 
attended by Achates alone, with naked foot 10 he treads the 

8 The craggy Crathis.] — Ver. 581. This was a river of Magna Grsecia, 
now Calabria. It waters Consentia, now Cozenza, the capital of the Brut- 
tii, and falls into the Gulf of Tarentum. Its present name is ' Crate.' It 
rises in the crags of the Apennines, hence its epithet here. 

9 The steersman now foregoes.] — Ver. 593-4. Gower's translation is, 

1 Up start the waves, and upside down they wallow: 
The leaking keel the foaming streams doth swallow ; 
Winds non-plus art/ 
9 * The two nations.'] — "Ver. 602. Namely, the Trojans and the Latins, 
the original inhabitants. How iEneas gained the hand of Lavinia, and 
conquered Turnus, is the subject of the latter books of the iEneid. 

10 With naked foot.] — Ver. 604. This would seem to imply that he was 



b. in. 604— 634.] OB, CALENDAR OP OYI.D. 117 

solitary path, he beholds her as she wanders along, nor can he 
bring himself to believe that it is Anna. Why should she 
come to the Latian land ? While iEneas thus debates within 
himself, " It is Anna!" cries Achates. At the name she raised 
her eyes. Whither is she to fly? What is she to do? What 
chasms of the earth is she to seek ? Before her eyes is the 
fate of her wretched sister. The heroic son of Cytherea 
divines her thoughts, and thus he addresses her in her agita- 
tion ; he weeps, however, Elissa, at the recollection of thy 
death. (i Anna, by this land I swear, which, formerly thou 
wast wont to hear, was bestowed on me by a happier destiny, 
and. by the Gods who have accompanied 11 my wandei'ings, 
lately settled in this their home, that many a time did they 
chide my loitering. And yet did I have no apprehension of her 
death ; that fear was far from my mind. Ah, me ! more 
determined was she than could have been possibly imagined. 
Tell not the tale ; I beheld in that breast the wounds that ill 
beseemed it, when I dared to visit the abodes of Tartarus. 12 
But thou, whether thy choice, or whether fortune has driven 
thee to my shores, do thou avail thyself of the resources of 
my kingdom ; I am still mindful that T owe much to thee, 
and everything to Elissa ; on thy own account, on the account 
of thy sister, shalt thou be dear to me." She believed him as 
he spoke, for now no other hope remained ; and then she de- 
tailed her wanderings. And when she now enters his house, 
arrayed in her Tyrian attire, iEneas thus begins, ivhile the 
rest are all silent; "Lavinia, my wife, there is a reason, 
prompted by duty, why I should introduce to thee this lady. 
When shipwrecked, I partook of her bounty. Sprung from 
Tyre, she possessed a realm on the Libyan shore ; and I beg 
that as a dear sister thou wilt love her." Lavinia makes every 
engagement, and hides the causeless wound of jealousy in her 
secret soul, and, though indignant, disguises her feelings. 

merely sauntering along, and that he was not proceeding on any business 
of emergency, which might require dispatch and the use of sandals. 

11 The Gods who have accompanied.'} — Ver. 615. The Penates that he 
brought with him from Troy. 

12 The abodes of Tartarus."] — Ver. 620. His descent to Tartarus, or 
the infernal regions, and his meeting with the spirit of Dido, are narrated 
in the sixth Book of the iEneid. Cytherea was an appellation of Venus, 
the mother ofiEneas, from the island of Cythera, on the coast of Laconia 
which was dedicated to her worship. 



118 THE FASTI; [b. in. 635— 656. 

And now, when she sees many presents made openly before 
her eyes, and suspects that many, too, are given secretly — 
and yet it is not certain what she is to do ; she hates her to 
a degree of frenzy, and plans her secret plots, and longs to 
die, having wreaked her vengeance. It was night ; before the 
bed of her sister, Dido seemed to stand, bloodstained, with her 
hair dishevelled, and to say, " Fly ! pause not ! fly from this 
direful house." Just at the word, the breeze shakes the creaking 
doors, she leaps from the bed, and swiftly she flings her- 
self from a low window upon the plain. Her very fear had made 
her bold, and clad with her robe untied, 13 she runs, whither 
by her terrors she is hurried, as the deer when frightened on 
hearing the wolves, The horned Numicius 14 is believed to 
have snatched her away in his amorous streams, and to have 
concealed her in his pools. In the meantime, the Sidonian 15 
is sought along the fields with loud shouts ; there appear her 
traces and the marks of her feet. They had reached the banks 
of the river; the impress of her feet was upon them ; the 
conscious river stayed his noiseless stream. She herself ap- 
peared to say, " I am a Nymph of the gently flowing Numi- 
cius ; concealed in the stream with constant tide, I am named 
Anna Perenna." 16 Forthwith, in their joy they feast in the 
fields they had wandered over, and they do honour to them- 
selves 17 and to the day with a profusion of wine. 

13 With her robe untied.'] — Ver. 645-6. Gower's translation is, 

' And wing'd with terror in her tuck'd-up coat, 
Runs like a roe that hears the wolf's hoarse note/ 

14 The horned Numicius.] — Ver. 647. This river was between Lauren- 
turn and Lavinium. 'Corniger,' 'horn bearing,' is an epithet frequently- 
given to rivers by the poets, from the windings of their stream, and the 
roaring of their eddies. 

15 The Sidonian.] — Ver. 649. Sidon was a city of Phoenicia, in the 
neighbourhood of Tyre, and its rival in maritime pursuits. ' Sidonian' 
here means simply 'Phoenician.' 

16 Anna Perenna.] — Ver. 653-4. Gower's translation is, 

' She seemed to speak: Numicius nymph, I live here; 
Perennall Anne of this Perennall river.' 

The poet seems here to imply, that she took her name from 'amnisperen- 
nis,' 'the ever-flowing river.' 

V Do honour to themselves.] — Ver. 656. Some commentators would 
translate 'se' by 'Genium,' 'they honour the festival and their own per- 
sonal Genius at the same time.' Perhaps it simply means, 'they honour 



b. in. 657—674.] OK, CALENDAR OF OTID. 119 

There are some who look upon this Goddess as the moon, 
because with her months she fills up the measure of the year ; 
some think her Themis; 15 others the Inachian cow. Thou 
wilt find, Anna, some ivko say that thou art a Nymph, a 
daughter of Atlas, and others ivho say that thou didst give to 
Jove his first food. This story, too, which I am going to 
relate, has come to my ears, and it is not at variance with 
probability. The commonalty of olden time, as yet unpro- 
tected by their Tribunes, had fled, and taken refuge on the top 
of the sacred Mount. 19 And now, the provisions which they 
had brought with them had failed ; their bread corn, too, 
suited to the use of man. There was one Anna, born at 
Bovillae,- in the vicinity of the city, a poor old woman, but a 
person of great industry. She, having her grey locks bound 
with a light turban, used to make her country cakes with 
shaking hand; 21 and so, early in the morning, she used to 
distribute them smoking hot among the people ; to them 
this supply was welcome. Peace being now established at 
home, they erected a statue to Perenna, 22 because in their state 

the day, and pay a compliment to themselves for the pains they have taken 
in seeking her.' 

18 Themis.'] — Ver. 658. Hyginus says, that she was the daughter of 
^Ether or Jupiter, and Terra. She had a temple near the river Cephisus, 
in Boeotia, and she was the instructor of mankind in the principles of piety 
and justice. 

19 The sacred Mount.] — Ver. 664. This was the 'Mons sacer,' to which 
the commonalty at Rome, at the instigation of Sicinius retired, on their 
secession from the Patricians, a.u.c 250. It was beyond the Anio, three 
miles distant from the city. On this occasion they enforced their right to 
elect magistrates of their own, whom they called 'Tribuni,' either because 
elected by the suffrages of the tribes, or selected from the military tribunes. 
It was on the occasion of this secession that Menenius Agrippa related the 
now well-known fable of the 'Belly and the Members.' 

20 Bovillce.] — Ver. 667. This was a town of Latium, on the Appian 
way. It was so called from 'bos,' 'an ox/ which in early times had 
escaped from an altar on the Alban Mount, and was caught upon the site 
of the town. He speaks of it as being 'suburbana,' to distinguish it from 
another town of the same name in Campania, near Sinuessa. 

21 With shaking hand.] — Ver. 669-70. Gower translates these lines 
thus: — 

' She in a hood her gray hairs having dress'd, 
Made country cymnels with her palsie fist.' 

In Shropshire they still make 'simnel cakes.' 

22 Statue to Perenna.] — Ver. 673. This account gives but a very silly 



120 THE FASTI; [b. in. 674—702. 

of destitution she had brought them relief. Now it re- 
mains for me to say, why at this time the girls sing inde- 
cent songs ; for they assemble and repeat by rote indelicate abuse. 
She had been lately deified ; Mars Gradivus comes to Anna, 
and taking her aside, he utters some such words as these : — 
" Thou art worshipped in my month ; I have shared my period 
of the year with thee ; on thy services depends a great hope 
of mine. I, a warrior myself, am inflamed, consuming with 
the love of Minerva, the warrior Goddess; and long have I 
cherished this passion. Provide that we, who are Deities, 
similar in our pursuits, should come together ; this office 
befits thee, thou good-natured old lady." He had said ; she 
trifles with the God with a false promise, and in the delays of 
doubt spins out his silly expectations. As he presses her 
more frequently, she says to him, " I have executed thy in- 
structions, she yielded to my solicitations ; but with difficulty 
has she given her hand/' The lover is delighted, and makes 
ready the bridal chamber ; thither is Anna conducted, veiling 
her face as a bride. Mars, just as he is about to snatch a 
kiss, suddenly catches sight of Anna's face ; first, shame, then 
rage influences the baffledGod. The newly -made Goddess laughs 
at the lover of his dear Minerva, and there was no circumstance 
more pleasing to Venus than this. It is by reason of this 
occurrence that old-fashioned jokes and indelicate sayings are 
sung, and delight is manifested that she thus imposed on the 
mighty God. 

I was on the point of omitting to mention the daggers that 
pierced our prince, when from her unpolluted shrine thus 
Vesta spoke : — " Hesitate not to record it — he was my priest; 23 
the sacrilegious hands assailed me with their weapons. I 
myself bore away the hero, and I left but a mere semblance 

origin to the worship of the Goddess, as he makes her name to be derived 
from this old woman, either because her name was 'Anna/ or because she 
was an old woman, 'anus/ The name was most probably derived from 
'annus/ 'a year/ for some reason now unknown, and had nothing to do 
with Dido's sister, whose story, very probably, the poet adapted to his 
ideas of etymology. 

23 He was my priest.] — Ver. 699. Being 'Pontifex Maximus/ it was 
incumbent on him to take charge of the sacrifices to Vesta. Julius Caesar 
was assassinated on the ides of March, a.tj.c. 709. The senate decreed 
that this day should in future be called ' Parricidium/ and that they should 
hold no sittings on it. 



B. ill. 702—721.] OE, CALENDAR OP OTID. 121 

of him ; that which fell by the steel was but the phantom of 
Csesar. He, indeed, enthroned in heaven, has gone to tenant 
the halls of Jove, and owns a temple consecrated to him in 
the gret t Forum. 24 But every one of those, who, daring this 
crime, despite of the will of the Gods, assailed the life of 
a Pontiff, now lies still in the death so well merited. 25 Witness 
it, Philippi, 20 and ye, with whose scattered bones the ground 
is whitened. This was the labour, this was the task of? duty, 
this was the first lesson of Caesar, in just warfare to avenge 
his father. 1 ' 

When the next morning shall have refreshed the tender 
herbage, the Scorpion 27 will be visible in his fore part only. 

The third day after the Ides is a day universally observed 
in honour of Bacchus. Bacchus, while I sing thy festival, 
favour the poet. I will not tell of Semele ; to whom had not 
Jove brought with him his thunderbolts, unarmed he was reck- 
oned by her a paltry object ; nor will I tell now how the burden 
of thy mother was matured in thy father's body, in order that 
thou, a babe, mightst be born in due time. 'Twere tedious 
to recount the Sithonian 23 and the Scythian triumphs, and the 
conquests of thy nations, thou Indian laden with frankincense. 
Thou also, unhappy prey of thy Theban mother, 29 shalt remain 

24 The great Forum. ,] — Ver. 704. This was the chief 'Forum' in the 
city. It was called either 'the Roman/ 'great,' or 'old Forum.' Three 
years after his death a temple was built here, and consecrated to Caesar. 

25 Death so well merited.]— ^ tx. 707. History tells us that every per- 
son who took any part in the assassination of Julius Caesar perished 
within three years after his death. 

26 Philippi.] — Yer. 707. This was a city of Macedonia, near the 
Thracian territory, and close to the iEgean sea. It was formerly called 
Datos, but king Philip fortifying it, it received its new name from him. 
Here Brutus and Cassius were defeated by Augustus and Antony, on 
which Cassius was, at his own request, killed by one of his freedmen, and 
Brutus fell by his own hand. 

27 The Scorpion.'] — Ver. 712. On the 17th of the calends of April 
is the cosmical rising of the middle of the Scorpion. Hyginus tells us that 
Orion, boasting of his skill as a hunter, Tellus sent a scorpion which 
killed him by its sting. Jupiter raised the Scorpion among the stars as a 
reward for the lesson which it had taught to human vanity. At the re- 
quest of Diana, a like honour was paid to Orion, on the condition that 
when the Scorpion rose, Orion, as a mark of his fear, should set. 

28 The Sithonians.] — Yer. 719. These were a people of Thrace, who, 
with the Scythians, were subdued by Bacchus. 

29 Thy Theban mother.'] — Yer. 721. Agave tore in pieces Pentheus, 



122 THE FASTI; [b. in. 721— 741. 

unmentionecl ; thou, too, Lycurgus, impelled by madness to 
assail thy own knee. Behold! 'twould please me much to 
tell of the Fishes, 30 works of sudden transformation, and the 
Etrurian miracles ; but it is not the province of this My poem. 
The province of this my song is now to relate the reasons why 
the mean old woman invites the citizens to her cakes. 31 Before 
thy birth, Bacchus, the altars were without sacrifice, and 
the grass was found on the cold hearths. They tell how, 
having subdued the Ganges and all the East, thou didst set 
apart the first fruits for the mighty Jove. Thou wast the first 
to make offering of cinnamon and frankincense, produce of 
thy capture, and the roasted entrails of the ox, emblem of thy 
triumph. From the name of their institutor, the initial offer- 
ings take their name 32 of " Libaniina" and of " Liba," because 
from them a part is offered up on the holy hearths. Cakes 
are offered to the God because he takes delight in sweets ; 
they say that honey, too, was discovered by Bacchus. He 
was journeying from the sandy Hebrus, 33 attended by the 
Satyrs (my tale contains no unpleasing humour) ; and they had 
now reached Rhodope and the flowery Pangeeum. The cymbal- 
bearing hands of his attendants join in united clash. Behold, 
winged insects, till then unknown, flock together at the tink- 

king of Thebes, her son by Echion, because he forbade the celebration of 
the orgies of Bacchus. Lycurgus, king of Thrace, denied the divinity of 
Bacchus, and being punished with insanity, killed his wife and child, and 
cut off his own legs, mistaking them for vine branches. He was murdered 
by his own subjects, who were forbidden by an oracle to taste wine till he 
had been despatched. Another account is, that he was slain by panthers 
sacred to Bacchus. 

30 To tell of the Fishes.]— Ver. 723. This story is, that some sailors, 
finding Bacchus asleep with intoxication, carried him off to sell him as a 
slave. When sober, he requested them to steer towards the isle of Naxos ; 
which they failing to do, he turned them into dolphins. 

31 To her cakes.] — Ver. 726. Varro says that ' the feast of the Liberalia 
was so called because on that day, throughout the whole city, the 
priestesses of Bacchus, old women crowned with ivy, sit with their cakes 
and chafing-dishes, and perform sacrifice for such as will pay them/ 

33 Take their name.] — Ver. 733. It is much more likely, as we have 
before observed, that Bacchus obtained his name of ' Liber/ from 
• libo,' in Greek \eif3w, ' to pour out,' which is the root of the word ' li- 
bamen/ signifying 'that which is poured out in sacrifice.' Ovid is 
frequentlv more ingenious than correct in his etymology. 

33 Hebrus.]— Ver. 737. This was a river of Thrace, falling into the 
iEgean sea. Pangaeum and Rhodope were mountains of that country* 



B. III. 741— 767.] OB, CALENDAR OE OYID. 123 

ling, and on whichever side the brass sends forth its sounds 
the bees follow. Bacchus collects them as they wander, and 
shuts them in a hollow tree ; and he enjoys the reward of the 
discovery of honey. Soon as the Satyrs, and Silenns, the 
bald-headed old man, tasted its flavour, they were seeking 
through the whole grove for the yellow honeycombs. The 
old man hears the buzzing of a swarm in a decayed elm ; he 
spies, too, the combs, but declares that he has made no such 
discovery. 34 And as he is lazily lolling on the back of his 
bending ass, he guides him close to the elm and its hollow 
bark ; he himself, then, stands up above his ass, resting on 
the branchy trunk, and now is engaged in greedily seeking 
the honey hoarded in the trunk. Thousands of hornets fly 
together, and fix deep their stings in his bare pate, and mark 
the surface 35 of his countenance. He tumbles headlong, and 
is struck by the hoof of the ass ; 36 and then he calls aloud on 
his companions, and entreats assistance. The Satyrs run to 
the spot, and laugh at the swollen face of their parent; he 
limps about from the blow on his knee. The God himself 
laughs too, and teaches him how to apply mud to the stings ; 
he follows his advice, and with mud bedaubs his face. The 
father enjoys the honey, and with justice do we offer to 
its discoverer the white honey poured over the warm cake. 
Why a woman presides over them is not a matter of difficult 
discovery. It is he who with his wreathed spear arouses the 
choirs of the women. Why it is an old woman that does 
this ? you ask. It is this period of life which is more ad- 
dicted to wine, and is fond of the gifts of the loaded vine. 
You ask why she is wreathed with the ivy ? The ivy is most 

34 Declares that he has made no such discovery. ~\ — Ver. 748. Literally, 
* he dissembles/ that is to say, he pretends, either by his words or by his 
conduct, that he has not found any honey. ' Simulo' is ' to pretend that 
that is, which is not ;' ' dissimulo' is ' to pretend that that is not, which is.' 
It was not the case that he had made no discovery, but he pretended that 
such was the fact. 

35 The surface.'] — Ver. 754. Perhaps ' summa' may here be trans- 
lated ' the projecting parts' of his countenance, as his nose and long ears. 

36 The hoof of the ass.] — Ver. 755 — 6. Grower's translation is — 

1 Down tumbles he ; his asse about him laid 
His heels ; there lies he yawling out for aid. 
The Satyrs flock and laugh, their sire to see 
"With face swollen up. He halts on's asse-kick'd knee.' 



124 THE fifem; [b. in. 767— 787. 

pleasing to Bacchus, and why this is the case, it will take no 
length of time to tell. The Nymphs of Nysa, 37 when his step- 
mother sought the boy, covered his newly-made cradle with 
this leaf. It remains for me to discover why the gown of 
freedom 38 is given to the youths upon thy day, fair Bacchus ; 
whether it is that thou thyself always seemest to be both a boy 
and a young man, and thy age is midway between the two ; or 
that because thou art a father, fathers commit their sons, their 
pledges, to thy care and providence ; or that because thou art 
"Liber, 55 the "vestis libera' 5 [the chess of 'freedom'] is assumed 
under thy patronage, and the course of a life of more liberty 
is commenced; or perhaps it is, because, when the ancients cul- 
tivated the fields with more attention, and the senator on the 
farm of his forefathers followed up the business of agriculture, 
and the consul received the fasces coming from the crooked 
plough, and it was no imputation on one's character to have 
hard-skinned hands, then the rustic population used to come 
to the games into the city ; but that compliment was paid to 
the Gods, and not to their own private inclination. The dis- 
coverer of the grape used to hold the games on his own 
holiday, which now he holds in common with the torch- 
bearing Goddess. 39 That therefore the multitude might do 

37 The nymphs of Nysa.~\ — Ver. 769. There was a Nysa in Thrace, 
Boeotia, India, and Arabia. The poet probably means the last, where 
Bacchus was entrusted to the nymphs, that he might be concealed from 
the search of Juno, who was wishful, by his death, to avenge herself for 
the infidelity of Jupiter. Gowerthus translates lines 765-6 — 

' But why old wives ? That age most bouzie proves, 
And most of all the pleasing vine-juyce loves.'* 

38 The gown of freedom. .] — Ver. 771. The ' toga libera' was one of 
the titles of the ' toga virilis,' or ' robe of manhood,' which was assumed 
on the ' Liberalia,' or feast of Bacchus, by the young men who had then 
arrived at the age of seventeen years, and who then laid aside the ' toga 
praetexta.' The ' toga' was changed with solemnity, in presence of the 
Lares, and they then went to the Capitol or some other temple to pray to the 
gods. It was called ' libera,' because when it was assumed, they were free 
from the restraint of masters. The similarity between ' liber,' as an 
epithet of Bacchus, and ' liber,' ' free,' as the poet suggests for his third 
reason, was perhaps the ground on which this day was chosen for the 
solemnity. 

39 The torch-bearing Goddess.'] — Ver. 786. Geres, who is thus repre- 
sented in her statues. She carried a torch while seeking her daughter, 
Proserpine, when she had been carried off by Pluto. 



b. in. 787— 812.] OE, CALEKDAB OP OTID. 125 

honour to the youth commencing man, the day seemed not 
unsuitable for conferring the gown of freedom. Hither, 
Father, mayst thou turn thy head and thy horns with mild in- 
tent, and grant to my powers a sail swelling with the prosperous 
gale. On this day and the day before, if I remember aright, 
is the procession to the Argei. 40 What they are, their own 
history 41 will tell. 

The star of the Kite 42 slopes downwards towards the Bear, 
the daughter of Lycaon ; this becomes visible on this night. 
If you would wish to know what it was that gave heaven to 
this bird ; Saturn had been expelled from his realm by Jove ; 
in his wrath he excites the powerful Titans to arms, and 
demands that assistance which was due to him from the 
Fates. There was a bull, a strange monster, born of his 
mother Earth, a serpent in his hinder parts. Him, by the 
advice of the three Fates, the fierce Styx had with triple 
wall shut in the gloomy groves. Whoever should give the 
entrails of the bull to be consumed by the flames, it was 
fated that he should be enabled to conquer the eternal Gods. 
With axe made of adamant, Briareus slays him, and is now 
just on the very point of giving the entrails to the flames. 
Jupiter commands the birds to snatch them away ; the kite 
brings them to him, and by its services finds its way to the 
stars. 

One day intervenes, and the festival of Minerva takes place, 
which has its name from the union of five days. 43 The first 
day is free from blood, and it is not allowable then to contend 
with the steel ; the reason is, that on this day Minerva was 

, 40 The Argei.~] — Ver. 791. These were certain places in Rome, sup- 
posed to have been so called from the burial there of certain Argives who 
had come over with Hercules. According to Livy, these spots were con- 
secrated by Numa. Some writers think that the Argei was the temple of 
Castor and Pollux, Spartan divinities. 

41 Their own history. .] — Ver. 791. Most probably this alludes to some 
topographical history of the places then extant, and well known to 
every one at that day. 

42 The Kite.]— Ver. 794. On the 16th of the calends of April the Kite rises 
achronycally. It is not known whence Ovid borrowed 'this story of the 
Kite, This constellation, according to Krebs, is not alluded to by any 
Greek writer on astronomy before the time of Ovid. 

43 Union of Jive days.]— Ver. 810, This was the Quinquatrus, Quin- 
quatres, or Quinquatria, from ' quinque/ « five/ a festival of Minerva, com- 
mencing on the 14th of the calends of April, 



126 THE FASTI ; [b. hi. 812—831. 

born. The next 44 and the three succeeding are celebrated on 
the sand strewed in the Amphitheatre ; then the warlike 
Goddess is delighted with the drawn swords. Now, ye youths 
and tender damsels, celebrate Pallas ; he who pays homage to 
Pallas will be learned. Girls, when you shall have propitiated 
Pallas, then comb your wool ; learn, by winding, to take the 
load off the distaff, when now it is full. She teaches us 
also with shuttle to cross the standing warps, and with the 
sley she closes the open work. Worship her, thou, whose art it is 
to remove the stains from the damaged garments ; worship 
her, thou, who preparest the dyeing vessels for the fleeces. 
Nor will any one be able to make neatly the sandals for the 
foot if Pallas is unpropitious, even though he were more 
skilful than Tychius ; 45 and even if, compared with ancient 
Epeus, he should excel him in handicraft; yet if Pallas is dis- 
pleased, he will be but a bungler. You, too, who drive away dis- 
ease by Apollo's art, offer from your fees a few gifts to the God- 
dess. And do not you, teachers, a set generally robbed of your 
pay, 46 despise her; she will bring you new pupils: and thou who 
guidest the graving tool, 47 and thou who dost enamel the slab 

44 The next."] — Ver. 813. On the second day of the festival commenced 
the gladiatorial combats in the amphitheatre, in honour of the goddess. 
The place where they fought, was called the ' arena/ it being sprinkled with 
sand or sawdust, to absorb the blood and to prevent slipping. By some 
the Quinquatria are supposed to have been identical with the Panathensea, 
a festival instituted at Athens by Orpheus or Erectheus in honour of 
Minerva. Similar license is said to have been allowed to the slaves on the 
Quinquatria to that which prevailed on the Saturnalia, and friends then 
interchanged presents. 

45 Tychius.'] — Ver. 824. He was a celebrated artificer of Boeotia, and, 
according to Homer, the maker of the shield of Ajax ; though, as Mr. 
Stanford remarks, Homer's eulogy of him is only in the character of a 
cobbler. Epeus was the builder of the wooden horse by means of which 
Troy was taken. 

46 Bobbed of you?* pay.] — Ver. 829. This line has occasioned much 
perplexity ; but it seems to imply pretty clearly that the schoolmaster was 
an ill-paid drudge, and that he was obliged to look rather to numbers, for 
a living, than to the individual honesty of his employers. Possibly, like 
the physicians and barristers of the present day, he w r as not able to sue 
for his fees at law; and having to trust solely to the honour of his employ- 
ers, he not unfrequently, or indeed, very frequently, found that he had 
built his expectations on the sand. His fee was called the * Minerval/ and 
an image of the goddess Minerva stood over the school door. 

47 The graving -tool.] — Ver. 831. ' Caelum/ This was the tool used in 
carving or graving — a ' burin/ or ' chisel.' 



B. ill. 831—853.] OE, CALENDAR OP OYID. 12/ 

with colours, thou, too, who fashionest the soft stones with 
skilful hand. She is the Goddess of a thousand crafts ; doubt- 
less she is the Goddess of song. If I am deserving, may she 
be present, a friend to my pursuits. 

Where the Caelian Hill slopes from its elevation to the plains, 
here, where the way is not quite level, but nearly so, you may 
see a small temple of Minerva " Capta," which the Goddess 
began to possess on her natal day. The cause of the name is 
doubtful. We entitle a skilful genius " Capitale," 48 [shrewd] ; 
she is a Goddess full of genius. Or is it because she is said, 
without a mother, to have leaped forth with her shield from 
the crown of her father's head? Or is it because she came 
to us a captive when Falisci was subdued ? And this very fact 
the ancient records tell. Or is it because she has a law, that 
thieves who are detected in that place, should suffer capital 
punishment ? From whatever cause thou derivest thy titles, 
O Pallas, ever do thou hold thy iEgis 49 before our chiefs. The 
last day of the five, commands us to purify the sounding trum- 
pets, 50 and to sacrifice to the bold Goddess. Now, you can 
say, having raised your eyes to the sun, " He yesterday weighed 
down the fleece of the sheep of Phrixus. 5 ' 51 

By the deceit of the accursed step-mother, the seed-corn 

48 Capitale.] — Ver. 838-9. We have a vulgar expression somewhat 
similar to this at the present day. If a person is clever and shrewd, it is 
common to say of him that ' he has a good head-piece.' So ' capitalist 
from ' caput/ the ' head/ will mean l with a head, or ' relating to the 
head.' Gower translates this and the following lines thus — 

1 The reason's doubtfull : She's the minerall 
Of wit, which quick is called capitall. 
Or else, because her father's aching head 
She, arm'd with shield, sans help of wife, did shed.' 

49 jEgis.'] — Ver. 813. This was the shield of Minerva, and it was so 
called because it was covered with a goat skin, aiyig, that of the goat 
Amalthea, that suckled Jupiter. In it too was set the head of the Gor- 
gon Medusa, which turned the beholder into stone. 

50 The sounding trumpets.'] — Ver. 849. This was the feast ,of the 
' Tubilustrium/ or 'purification of trumpets,' on the 10th of the calends 
of April. Varro and Festus inform us that the trumpets used in the 
sacred rites were purified ia the 'Atrium Sutorium/ or 'Shoemakers' Hall.' 
Its locality is not known. 

51 Phrixus.'] — Ver. 852. The story of Ino, and her device to destroy 
her step-children, has been in part related in a note to the second Book. 
The story is here completed. It is again referred to by the Poet. 



128 THE FASTI ; [b. in. 853— 876. 

being parched, the blade had not raised the ear, as it is wont 
to do. A person is sent to the oracular' 02 tripod, that he may- 
bring back, by an infallible answer, what remedy the Delphic 
God gives out for the unproductive soil. He, corrupted too, 
as well as the seed, brings word, that, by the oracle, the death 
of Helle and of the youthful Phrixus was required. The 
citizens, the unfavourable season, and Ino, drove the king, 
while still resisting, to submit to the direful command. And 
now, his sister and Phrixus having their temples wreathed with 
boughs, stand together before the altar, and bewail their 
common destiny. Their mother, as by chance she is float- 
ing 53 in the air, sees them, and, in dismay, strikes her naked 
breast with her hand ; and then, with clouds in her train, she 
leaps down into the city of those descended from the dragon, 54 
and snatches away her children ; and that they may take 
flight, a ram, most resplendent with gold, is given them. He 
bears the two through the long channel of the Hellespont. 
The damsel is said to have been holding his horn with a feeble 
left hand, when from herself she imparts a name 55 to that 
tract of water. Her brother almost perishes together with 
her, while he is endeavouring to assist her as she falls, and 
extends afar his outstretched hands. He weeps as though the 
partner of the twofold danger were lost, not knowing that now 
she was the bride of the azure Deity. Having arrived at the 
shore, the ram is made a Constellation ; but his golden fleece 
reaches the Colchian palace. 56 

52 The oracular tripod.] — Ver. 855. This was a seat or table with 
three legs, on which the priestess sat, while delivering the oracles of 
Apollo in the Delphian temple. Some suppose that it was pierced, and 
that through it the priestess inhaled certain mephitic fumes, which were 
productive of a kind of madness or frenzy, which was mistaken for 
prophetic inspiration. 

53 She is floating. .] — Ver. 863. ' Pependerat.' 'Floating/ or 'hover- 
ing,' is an apt term for ' Nephele/ their mother, who had been changed 
into a cloud, vs<ps\r}. 

54 Descended from the dragon.~\ — Ver. 865. Thebes was founded by 
Cadmus, who killed a dragon, which had slain his companions, and then 
sowing the teeth, a crop of armed men was raised ; these killing each 
other till their number was reduced to five, with their assistance he built 
the city, whence the present epithet. 

55 Imparted a name.] — Ver. 870. That of Hellespont, ' the sea of 
Helle.' 

56 The Colchian palace.'] — Ver. 876. Phrixus bringing the fleece to 



B. in. 877— 884.] OS, CALENDAR OF OTID. 129 

When the approaching dawn shall have sent before it three 
light bearing days, you shall have the hours of day equal 57 
with those of night. When from this period the shepherd 
shall have four times penned his well-fed kids, four times the 
grass been white with dew fresh fallen, Janus will require to 
be adored, and with him mild Concord, and the Health of 
Rome, 58 and the altar of Peace. 

The Moon governs the months ; the worship of the Moon 
on the Aventine Hill 59 terminates the period of this month. 

Colchis, iEetes, the king, gave him his daughter, Chalciope, in marriage, 
and then, to secure possession of the fleece, he put Phryxus to death. To 
recover it, the Argonautic expedition, under Jason, was formed. 

57 Hours of day equal."] — Ver. 878. The vernal equinox on the 8th of 
the calends of April, or the 25th of March. 

58 Health of Rome.}— Ver. 882. * Salus/ 'Health/ was the daughter 
of iEsculapius : her temple was built on the Quirinal hill by C. Junius 
Bubulcus. 

59 The Aventine hill.'] — Yer. 884. Seivius Tullius built a temple in 
honour of Diana on the Aventine hill. 



130 THE FASTI ; [b. iv. 1—2. 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 



CONTENTS. 



The invocation of Venus, Ver. 1 — 18. The noble origin of Germanicus, 
and his descent from Venus through iEneas ; with the reason why April 
was formerly the second month, 19 — 60. The different opinions on the 
origin of the name : the power of Venus, 61 — 132. The festival of 
Venus and Fortuna Virilis ; Venus Verticordia, 133 — 162. The setting 
of the Scorpion, 163-4. The setting of the Pleiades, and their number, 
165 — 178. The Megalesia: the mythological history of the Mother of 
the Gods, and her arrival at Rome fromPhrygia, 179 — 372. The dedi- 
cation of the temple to Fortuna Publica : the victory of Csesar over 
Juba: the setting of Libra and Orion: the rainy season, 373 — 388. 
The games of Ceres, and her praises : the rape of Proserpine, 389—620. 
The dedication of the temple to Jupiter Victor, and to Liberty, 621 — 
624. The hailstorms, and the victory of Caesar at Mutina, 625 — 628. 
The festival of the Fordicidia, or sacrifice of the pregnant cow : the insti- 
tution of that ceremonial by Numa, 629 — 672. Augustus proclaimed 
Imperator, 673 — 676. The setting of the Hyades, 677-8. The setting 
fire to the foxes, in the Circensian games, 679 — 712. The passing of 
the Lion from the constellation of the Ram to the Bull, 713 — 720. The 
Palilia, or festival of Pales, 721 — 806. The foundation of the city and 
the death of Remus, 807 — 862. The Vinalia : the alliance of Mezen- 
tius with Turnus, 863 — 900. The middle of Spring : the setting of the 
Ram ; the showery season; and the rising of the Dog-star, 901 — 904. 
The Robi^alia, 905 — 942. The Floralia ; and the reception of Vesta 
into the Palatium, 943—954. 

" Fayour the poet," 1 I said, " thou genial mother of the 
twin loves ;" 2 towards the poet, she turned her countenance. 

1 Favour the poet.'] — Ver. 1-2. Gower's whimsical translation is, 

* " Alme, queen of payring love, assist," 1 cried : 
To me she streight her chearful eye applied.' 

2 Of the twin loves.'] — Ver. 1. Cicero mentions three Loves or Cupids, 
(On the Nature of the Gods, Book iii. c. 23,) the first, the son of Diana 
and Mercury; the second, of Venus and Mercury; and the third, Anteros. 
Other writers mention two only — the celestial, the son of Jupiter and 
Venus ; and the terrestrial, the son of Nox and Erebus. These are some- 
times distingushed as the honourable and the sensual Loves. 



B. i\:. 3— 21.] OK, CALENDAR OP OYID. 131 

" What wilt thou of me?" she said. " Surely thou wast but 
just now in the habit of singing of mightier subjects; 3 hast 
thou still in thy tender bosom the old wound? 4 By this time, 
Goddess, I replied, thou hast heard enough of my wound." 
She smiled, and immediately in that direction the sky was 
without a cloud. " Wounded or whole, have I ever been guilty 
of deserting thy standards ? 5 Thou wast ever the object of 
my purpose, the cause of my toil. Free from all blame, in 
my early years, I have sported in scenes that became my age ; 
now a more extensive range 6 is trodden by my steeds. I sing 
of the festivals with their reasons, as they are extracted from 
the ancient annals, and of the Constellations as they sink be- 
neath the earth and rise again. I have now arrived at the 
fourth month, in which of all thou art the most extolled. 
Thou knowest, Venus, that both the poet and the month are 
devoted to thee." Influenced by my address, she lightly 
touched my temples with a sprig of Cythersean myrtle, 7 and 
said, " Accomplish the work which thou hast undertaken." 
I was sensible of her power, and suddenly the peculiar 
reasons for the days of remark became evident ; Let my 
bark speed onward while thus it may, and while the fa- 
vouring breezes blow. Yet, if any part of my Calendar 
ought to affect thee, it is in April thou findest that by which 
thy attention ought to be detained. This month, through an 

3 Mightier subjects,'] — Ver. 3. Namely, the preceding books of the 
1 Fasti,' which treat of more serious subjects than love, the theme of many 
of his former poems. 

4 The old wound.] — Ver. 4. Alluding to the 'Amores,' one of his pre- 
vious compositions, in which he had complained of the pains and disap- 
pointments attendant on love. 

5 Deserting thy standards.] — Ver. 7. This figure is taken from the rigid 
rules of military discipline among the Romans. The poets were fond of 
comparing the pains of the lover to the toils of the soldier in active service. 
Gower thus translates this and the following line — 

' Or sound or sore, I ne'er forsook thy tent ; 
Thou art my daily task, my ornament.' 

6 A more extensive range.] — Ver. 10. 'Area.' This figure is derived 
from the games in the Circus. 

7 Cythercean myrtle.] — Ver. 15. The myrtle was the favourite plant of 
Venus. Servius (on the Georgics of Virgil, Book ii. 1. 64) says, that Venus 
chose this plant because it flourished near the sea, whence she sprung ; 
and because it was esteemed for its medicinal qualities in female diseases. 

k2 



132 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 21— 41. 

illustrious line, descends to thee, and becomes peculiarly 
thine by the nobility, which is thy lot by adoption. This did 
our father, offspring of Ilia, perceive, when he planned out the 
lengthy year, and himself celebrated his ancestors. And as, 
to fierce Mars he gave the first place in the succession, because 
he had been the immediate cause of his being ; so did he desire 
that Venus, 8 found in the line of his extraction through many 
generations, should have the place of the second month. And 
while seeking the origin of his race, and the generations as 
they were traced upwards, he went even as far back as to the 
Gods themselves in the line of his kindred. Could he be igno- 
rant, forsooth, that Dardanus 9 was born of Electra, the daugh- 
ter of Atlas ? And that Electra shared the bed of Jove ? His 
son was Ericthonius ; from himTros sprung : he was the father 
of Assaracus, Assaracus of Capys. This last begot Anchises, 
with whom, Venus did not disdain to hold the name of parent 
in common. Hence was born iEneas ; his piety well proved, 
bore the sacred relics and his father sitting on his shoulders, 
a second pious charge, through the flames of Troy. At length 
we have arrived at the blessed name of lulus, 10 from which 
point the Julian house is connected with its Trojan ancestors. 11 
His son was Postumus, 12 who, because he was born in the deep 

s Venus."] — Ver. 27 — 30. Gower thus renders these lines — 

' So Venus many ranks before his mother, 
He mistress made of this next following other ; 
And turning o'er Time's rolls to find the ground 
Of his descent, the gods his parents found.' 

9 Dardanus. ] — Ver. 31. Dardanus was the son of Jupiter and Electra, 
the daughter of Atlas. He was the founder of Troy, and by his wife 
Astioche, or Batis, he became the father of Ericthonius. The poet pro- 
ceeds to recount the ancestry of iEneas from Dardanus, and then the de- 
scent of the Alban kings from iEneas down to Romulus. 

10 Blessed name of lulus.] — Ver. 39. lulus was one of the names oi 
Ascanius, the son of iEneas. He calls that name 'felix,' or 'blessed,' as it 
was (in a more modern form) the family name of the Julii, of which house 
Julius Caesar was by birth a member; and Augustus, Tiberius, and Germa- 
nicus became so by adoption. 

11 Trojan ancestors."] — Ver. 40. 'Teucros.' This name seems to have 
been applied to the Trojans almost exclusively by the Latin poets. Homer 
and the older Greek writers never use it : the later ones but very rarely. 

12 His son was Postumus.] — Ver. 41. Or the passage will admit of this 
translation — ' Postumus succeeded him ;' for Virgil says that Postumus was 
the son of iEneas ; and Dionysius tells us, that on the death of iEneas, 



vi. 41—50.] 



OK, CAXEKDAE, OF OVID. 



133 



sylvan shades, was called Silvius, among the Latian nation* 
And he, 'Latinus, is thy sire ; 13 Alba succeeds Latinus, Epytus 
succeeds to thy dignity, Alba. He gave to Capys the re- 
vived name of Troy ; 14 he, too, became thy grandsire, 
Calpetus. And while, in succession to him, Tiberinus was oc- 
cupying the throne of his father, he is said to have been 
drowned in the eddy of the Etrurian stream. And yet he had 
lived to see Agrippa, his son, and Eemulus, 15 his grandson. 

Lavinia, being pregnant, fled into the woods through fear of lulus, and 
there produced Postumus, who derived one of his names from his post- 
humous birth, and his other name (Sylvius) from his birth in the woocU. 

13 Latinus is thy sire J] — Ver. 43. According to Virgil and other 
writers, Latinus was the son of iEneas Sylvius, and grandson of Sylvius 
Posthumus ; hence, some writers have concluded that a couplet has been 
lost here. Livy, Dionysius, and Eusebius have also given lists of the 
Alban kings, which differ but little from that here given by Ovid. The 
difference, such as it is, will be seen from a comparison of the following 
lists. 

Livy. Dionysius. 

iEneas. iEneas. 

Ascanius. Ascanius. 

Sylvius. Sylvius. 

iEneas. iEneas Sylvius. 

Latinus. Latinus Sylvius. 

Alba. Albas Sylvius. 

Atis. Capetus Sylvius. 

Capys. Capys Sylvius. 

Capetus. Calpetus Sylvius. 

Tiberinus. Tiberinus Sylvius. 

Agrippa. Agrippas Sylvius. 

Romulus. Allades Sylvius. 

Aventinus. Aventinus Sylvius. 

Proca. Procas Sylvius. 

Amulius. Amulius Sylvius. 

Ovid gives a list of the Alban kings in the fourteenth Book of the Meta- 
morphoses, 1. 609, where he calls Calpetus, Capetus, and Agrippa by the 
name of Agrota. This line of the Alban kings is universally considered by 
historians as a fiction of the later times of the Roman republic. See 
Niebuhr's Roman History, i. 202. 

14 Revived name of Troy.'] — Ver. 45. That is, he restored the use of 
a name or epithet that had been in use at Troy. Capys was the name of 
the father of Anchises, and of one of the companions of iEneas. iEneid, 
Book i. 1. 183. 

15 Remulus,"] —Ver. 50. He is called by Livy 'Romulus.' Either name 
is a diminutive for 'Remus,' or 'Romus.' Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, 
Book xiv. 1. 616, represents him as incurring the vengeance of heaven by 
imitating lightning, and affecting to be a divinity. 



Eusebius. 


Ovid. 


iEneas. 


iEneas. 


Ascanius. 


Ascanius. 


Sylvius. 
iEneas. 


Sylvius. 


Latinus. 


Latinus. 


Alba. 


Alba. 


Sylvius Athis. 
Capys. 
Calpetus. 
Tiberinus. 


Epitus. 
Capys. 
Calpetus. 
Tiberinus. 


Agrippa. 
Remulus. 
Aventinus. 


Remulus. 
Agrippa. 
Aventinus. 


Procas. 


Proca. 


Amulius. 


Numitor. 



134 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 50— 68. 

They say that against Remulus the thunderbolts were hurled. 
After these came Aventinus, from whom the place and the 
hill, too, derived its name. After him the sovereignty 
passed to Procas ; him Numitor followed, the brother of the 
cruel Amulius ; Ilia and Lausus 16 were the children of Nu- 
mitor. Lausus falls by his uncle's sword ; Ilia is beloved by 
Mars, and produces thee, Quirinus, with Remus, thy twin- 
brother. He ever boasted that his lineage was from Mars and 
Venus, and ivell did he entitle himself to gain credit for the 
assertion. And, that generations to come might not be igno- 
rant of this, to the Gods of his race he consecrated the months 
in succession. But I conjecture that the month of Venus re- 
ceived its name ' Aprilis 9 from the Greek language ; 17 the 
Goddess obtained her name, c Aphrodite ■/ from the foam of the 
sea. But you must not wonder that any thing is called by a 
name from the Grecian tongue ; for the Italian land was the 
Greater Grsecia. 18 Evander arrived there with a fleet, manned by 
his fellow countrymen ; Alcides, too, came thither; each of them 
of Grecian extraction. The Club-bearer, as a stranger fed h'is 
herd on the pasturage of Aventine, and Albula 19 afforded drink 

16 Lausus."] — Ver. 54. The brother of Ilia is called iEgestus by Diony- 
sius, and by Plutarch, Ainitus. He was treacherously slain by his uncle 
while hunting. Plutarch says that Numitor did reign for some time be- 
fore he w T as deposed by Amulius. 

17 From the Greek language.'] — Ver, 61. According to Macrobius, 
Romulus called the month Aprilis by that name in honour of Venus, who 
was called by the Greeks 'Aphrodite/ from a<ppoe, 'the foam of the 
sea.' Ovid prefers this derivation (in flattery to the Julian house) to 
that from 'aperio/ 'to open/ which has by far the greater probability of 
being the correct etymology. Scaliger would derive the name of this 
month from 'aper/ 'a boar/ because that animal was a customary sacri- 
fice at this season. 

18 The Greater Grcecia.] — Ver. 64. Commentators have been much at 
a loss to tell why Italy received this name from the Grsecian settlers, if it 
is intended to apply to the whole of Italy, and not the southern part, 
which in later times was known as Magna Graecia. Mr. Thynne appears 
to suggest the true reason for the name ; because, in fact, the Greeks found 
Italy a much more spacious country than the limited region which thev 
had left. 

19 Albula.'] — Ver. 68. This was the early name of the river Tiber. 
Gower thus renders this and the following line — 

4 That clubbed pilgrime did his club display 
On Aventine, and drank of Albula/ 



B. iv, 6S — 77.] OR, CALENDAB OF OVID. 135 

to a God so mighty. The chief, too, from Neritos 20 came 
thither; the Lestrygonians attest it, 21 and that shore which still 
bears the name of Circe. 22 And now were the walls of 
Telegonus 23 erected, and the city of the watery Tibur, 24 which 
Grecian hands had built. Halesus, 25 too, had arrived, driven 
away by the death of the son of Atreus, from whom the Falis- 
can land believes that it received its name. 26 Add Antenor 27 
as well, the adviser of peace at Troy, and, Apulian Daunus, 
thy son-in-law, the grandson of (Eneus. 27 * At a later pe- 

20 Neritos.] — Ver. 69. Servius tells us that this was a mountain of 
Ithaca. Virgil (iEneid, Book iii. 1. 270) and Pomponius Mela, the 
geographer, seem to consider it as a distinct island in the vicinity of Ithaca. 

21 Attest it.] — Ver. 69. Attest the arrival of Ulysses in Italy; for, being 
a race of cannibals, they caught and devoured some of his companions, as 
we learn in the tenth Book of the Odyssey. They lived in the neighbour- 
hood of Formiae, in Campania. 

22 Name of Circe.'] — Ver. 70. This was the promontory of Circaeum, 
in Latium, supposed once to have formed the island of ' iEsea.' Circe in- 
habited it. She was the daughter of Helius, or the sun, and Persa, and 
by her magic art changed all intruders upon her island into swine. By 
the aid of Mercury, Ulysses escaped the exercise of her terrific power 
upon himself, and obtained the restoration of his companions, who had 
been transformed by her, to their original form. 

23 Walls of Telegonus.] — Ver. 71. Telegonus was the son of Ulysses 
and Circe. He went to Ithaca to seek his father, and accidentally killed 
him. On his return to Italy, he founded Tusculum, in Latium, north of 
Alba Longa. 

24 Watery Tibur. ,] — Ver. 71. This was a town of Latium, on the river 
Anio, whence its epithet here, 'udi/ 'watery.' It was founded by 
Tiburnus, Catillus, and Coras, three brothers, who led thither a colony 
from Argos. Its site is now occupied by the town of Tivoli. 

25 Halesus. ~] — Ver. 73. He is supposed to have been a son of Aga- 
memnon, who conspired with Clytemnestra to slay his father, after whose 
murder he fled to Italy, where he founded the town of Falisci, and intro- 
duced the worship of Juno. 

26 Received its name.] — Ver. 74. F and H were sounded by the 
ancient Digamma, and were therefore confused in sound. According to 
Cicero and Quintilian, S was changed into R in many instances. 

27 Antenor.] — Ver. 75. Antenor, according to Homer, always advo- 
cated peaceful measures in the Trojan councils. The Greeks are said to 
have permitted him to leave Troy with a colony of the Heneti from Asia 
Minor, on which he came into Italy, and founded Patavium, now Padua. 
By the Heneti, or Veneti, the city of Venice is supposed to have been 
founded. 

2T * Grandson of (Eneus.] — Ver. 75. Diomedes, the grandson of 
(Eneus, king of iEtolia, on his return from Troy, being driven from 



136 THE FASTI ; [b. iv. 77— 91. 

riod, 28 and after Antenor, did iEneas bring his Gods from the 
flames of Troy to our regions. Solymus from Phrygian Ida was 
one of his companions, from whom the city of Sulmo derives 
its name. Cold Sulmo, 29 Germanicus, my native place ! Ah ! 
wretched me ! How distant is it from the Scythian soil ! 
Shall I then, so far ? 30 — but suppress thy complaints, my Muse; 
sacred subjects must not be sung to a desponding lyre. To 
what point will not envy proceed ? There are some, Venus, 31 
who would rob thee of the honour of a month, and who be- 
grudge it thee. For, because the spring at that time is opening 
every thing, and the contracted ruggedness of the frost is 
yielding, and the prolific earth is teeming, they say that April 
is so called from the aperient season ; that month, which 
Venus, having laid her hand upon it, claims as her own. She 

his own country by the infidelity and intrigues of his wife, came to 
Apulia, married the daughter of Daunus, the king, and founded Argyripa, 
or Argi, in that country. 

28 At a later period.] — Ver. 77. iEneas did not arrive in Italy till 
after the other settlers that have been mentioned. According to Virgil, 
his wanderings lasted seven years. 

29 Cold Sulmo.] — Ver. 81. Solymus was the reputed founder of 
Sulmo, the birth-place of Ovid, which was a small town of the Peligni, 
between Aquila and Venafrum. The country of the Peligni was remark- 
able for its coldness, as is attested by Horace, Odes, Book iii. Ode 19, 1. 28. 
There is something very affecting in the repetition by the exiled poet of 
the name of his dear Sulmo, his reminding Germanicus that it was his 
native place, and his allusion to the immense distance that then separated 
him from it. 

30 Shall I then, so far ?]— Ver. 83. The poet suddenly checks himself 
in his complaints. This is a very graceful instance of the figure Aposio- 
pesis ; he appears as if about to say, • Shall I, then, be allowed, so far 
from my native Sulmo, to draw my last breath ?" or to that effect. 

31 O Venus.] — Ver. 86. The expressions here used are obviously em- 
ployed to flatter the ambition of the Julian family to be regarded as the 
descendants of Venus. Macrobius tells us that both Aphrodite and Venus 
were names unknown to Rome under the kings ; and it is very probable 
that the name of Venus was introduced at a much later period. Some phi- 
lologists have supposed her to have been a Syrian goddess, worshipped 
under the name of Benoth as well as Astarte ; and in the books of the Old 
Testament we more than once find mention made of a place called Succoth 
Benoth, which is supposed to mean ' the tents of Venus/ as being, per- 
haps, the especial seat of her worship. If this conjecture is well grounded, 
the probability is that the Romans received the name of Venus either 
through their intercourse with Carthage, which was a Phoenician colony, or 
that it arrived at Rome by the way of Greece and Sicily. 



b iv. 91— 120. J OR, CALEITOAE OF OTTD. 137 

indeed most worthily holds sway over the whole circle of the 
year ; she owns a sovereignty inferior to that of no Deity. 
^She rules the heaven, the earth, and the waves that gave her 
X)irth ; and by the power of her embraces she holds sway over 
every kind. She it was who created all the Gods ; 'twould be 
a tedious task to enumerate them ; she furnished the primary 
causes for the plants and the trees. She it was that brought 
together the untaught minds of men, and instructed them to 
unite, each one with his mate. What is it but alluring delights 
that creates the whole race of the birds of the air ? If gentle 
love is away, then do the flocks refuse to pair. With another 
male the furious ram fights with his horn, but the forehead of 
his beloved ewe 32 he is careful not to hurt. The bull, at 
whom all the pastures and all the wood tremble, follows 
the heifer, divested of his fierceness. The same influence pre* 
serves whatever it is that has life beneath the wide ocean, and 
it fills the waters with fishes innumerable. It was she that first 
divested man of his savage habits of life ; from her were de- 
rived the arts of dress, and the careful attention to the person. 
The lover is said at first to have chaunted his serenade at the 
closed doors of his mistress throughout the livelong night that 
was denied to him ; then, it was an effort of oratory to prevail 
upon the cruel maid, and each man was eloquent, he pleading 
for himself his own cause. By means of her were a thousand 
arts first touched upon, and through the desire of pleasing, 
many things were discovered, which before lay concealed. 
Can any one be found to dare to deprive this Goddess of the 
privilege of giving her name to the second month? 33 Far from 
me be such madness. What ? Is it only because she is every 
where powerful, and honoured by many a temple, that the 
Goddess has a peculiar claim to honour in our city ? 0, man 
of Rome, it was in defence of thy ancestral Troy that Venus 
was wielding arms, when, mangled by the spear 34 on her 

32 Beloved ewe.'] — Ver. 101-2. Gower thus renders these two lines-— 

1 The surly ram will with a ram knock horns ; 
But yet to hurt his lovely ewe he scorns.' 

33 Second month.] — Ver. 115; That Is to say, the second month in the 
original year of Romulus. 

' 6i Mangled by the spear,] — Ver. 120. Namely, in the combat between 
Diomedes and iEneas, where she interfered in favour of her son. — Iliad , 
Book iii. 1. 535. 



138 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 121— 138. 

tender wrist, she lamented aloud. By the decision, too, of a 
Trojan she overcame two of the daughters of heaven. 35 Ah ! 
would that the defeated Goddesses had failed to remember 
this ! And doubtless, she was called the daughter-in-law of 
Assaracus, that, in fact, in future times the great Csesar 
might have ancestors sprung from the line of lulus, her de- 
scendant. And no season was there more becoming for 
Venus than the spring ; in spring the earth is beauteous ; in 
spring the soil is unbound : then does the herbage raise its 
head, having burst the ground ; then from the swelling bark 
does the shoot push forth the bud ; and the lovely Venus is 
deserving of the lovely season, and, as is her wont, she is in 
close conjunction with her own dear Mars. In spring she bids 
the curved ships 36 to go on their way along the deep that gave 
her birth, and no longer to dread the blustering of the winter. 
Properly, ye Latian matrons and ye maidens, do ye wor- 
ship the goddess, and ye who are without the fillets 37 and 
the garment with lengthened train. Untie the golden neck- 
laces from her neck of marble ; remove her jewels : the God- 
dess must be laved all over. 38 Restore her golden necklaces 39 
to her neck when dried : then must other flowers, then must 

35 Daughters of heaven.'] — Ver. 121-2. Gower's version is — 
* She put two ladies down (a Trojane judge). 
Ah ! may those twaine not think of that old grudge.' 
This is an allusion to her contest with Juno and Minerva for the golden 
apple. 

33 The curved ships.] — Ver. 131. From the third of the ides of Novem- 
ber to the sixth of the ides of March the sea was not deemed navigable. 
The ships were then laid up on shore. In spring they were launched for 
the season by the agency of rollers placed under them. To this Horace 
makes allusion, Odes, Book i. Ode 4, 1. 3. 

37 Without the fillets. ~\ — Ver. 134. The women of light character at 
Home were not allowed to wear the 'vittae,' or 'fillets/ which were 
restricted to the priestesses ; or the ' stola,' or long garment with a deep 
'instita,' or ' flounce/ which was worn by women of character only; on 
the contrary, they were restricted to wearing the 'toga/ 

38 Laved all over.'] — Ver. 136. The washings of the statues of the 
various divinities were common among both the Greeks and the Romans. 
It is conjectured that only the women of the lowest rank took part in the 
washing of the Goddess on this occasion. 

39 Golden necklaces.] — Ver. 137. ' Redimicula.' This word generally 
signifies the strings or ribbons which fell on the shoulders from the 
'mitra,' or head-dress, and were probably used for the purpose of tying it 
under the chin. Here, however, it seems to mean ' necklaces.' 



B. iv. 138—159.] OR, CALEMAR OF OTTD. 139 

a fresh rose be given to her. You women, too, she bids to bathe, 
wearing chaplets of the green myrtle ; and why she does so, 
learn now, for a cause exists. All naked, she was drying her 
dripping tresses on the sea-shore ; the Satyrs, a wanton set, be- 
held the goddess. She perceived it, and concealed her person 
by an intervening myrtle tree ; she was saved by so doing, and 
she desires you to commemorate the circumstance. 

Learn now, why ye offer the incense to Fortuna Yirilis ; 40 
in that place which is all moist with the application of 
warm water. That place beholds you all with your gar- 
ments laid aside, and every imperfection of your naked 
person is exposed. To conceal these, and to hide them from 
your husbands, does Fortuna Virilis engage ; and this she 
does, if requested so to do, with the offering of a little frankin- 
cense. And be not reluctant to take the poppy bruised with 
the snow-white milk, and the honey 41 trickling from the 
squeezed combs. When first Venus was led home by her 
eager husband, she drank of this ; from that time she was a 
wife. With suppliant words appease her ; under her protec- 
tion abide both beauty, good morals, and fair fame. Rome 
had, in lapse of time, degenerated from the virtue of its an- 
cestors ; then, men of the olden time, did ye consult the 
Cumaean Sibyl. 42 She commanded a temple to be erect- 

40 Fortuna Virilis.'] — Ver. 145. Plutarch, in one instance, says that a 
temple was erected to the Goddess, Male Fortune, (or rather, Fortune of 
the Males), by Ancus Martius ; in another place he refers the building 
of it to Servius Tullius, in which statement he is supported by Dionysius. 
The temple contained a wooden statue of Servius Tullius. Gower thus 
renders this and the next line — 

' Male Fortune, pleas'd with but a little spice, 
Hides from your husbands all deformities/ 
It must be remembered that Fortuna Virilis was not a God, but a Goddess, 
to whom were entrusted the fortunes of the male sex. 

41 And the honey. ,] — Ver. 152. A drink made of milk, honey, and 
bruised poppies, was given to the bride on the day of her nuptials, as we 
are informed by Puny, Nat. Hist. Book xix. c. 8. It was called 'cocetum.' 

42 The Cumcean Sibyl.] — Ver. 158. Sibylla is a name given by the 
ancient writers to several mysterious personages of antiquity ; Pliny 
mentions three, Plato one, iElian four, and Varro ten. The Sibyl alluded 
to in the text, and mentioned in the third Book, 1. 534, with reference to 
her great age, resided at Cumae, in Italy. Erythrea was her name, though 
she is sometimes called Herophile, Daphne, Deiphobe, Manto, &c. Apollo 
granted her a life to equal in the years of its duration the grains con- 
tained in a handful of sand. Forgetting to add to her request the enjoy- 



140 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 159— 169 

ed 43 to Venus : this being duly performed on that occasion, Venus 
obtained the name of " Verticordia" from the change of the 
heart. Ever do thou, most beauteous Goddess, look upon the 
descendants of iEneas with pleased aspect, and do thou protect 
so many of thy daughters-in-law. 

Whilst I am speaking, the Scorpion, formidable for the sting 
of his elevated tail, plunges headlong 44 into the green waves. 

When the night shall have passed away, and the sky shall 
first begin to blush, and the birds, touched by the dewdrops, 
shall complain; and the traveller shall now throw aside his half- 
consumed torch after watching out the night, and the swain 
shall proceed to his wonted toil ; then do the Pleiades begin 45 

ment of health and strength, decrepitude and infirmity became her lot as 
her years advanced. When iEneas. requested her aid in his descent to the 
infernal regions, seven hundred years of her life had elapsed. There 
was another Sibyl of Cumaea, in JMia, who is represented as being 
a different personage from the former. One of the Sibyls offered Tar- 
quinius Priscus, or, as some say, Superbus, nine books for a sum of money ; 
on being twice refused, she each time burned three, and the king then 
purchased the remaining three for the original price. Pliny (Nat. Hist. 
Book xiii. c. 13) says there were but three books originally, of which she 
burned two. They were carefully preserved in the Capitolium, in a stone 
chest, deposited in a vault underground. They were supposed to shadow 
forth the destinies of Rome, and were consulted on great emergencies : 
two men, called the 'Duumviri Sacrorum,' were appointed for that especial 
purpose. 

43 To be erected.] — Ver. 159. In the year a.u.c. 639, in the con- 
sulship of Acilius Balbus and Porcius Cato, Elvia, the maiden daughter 
of Elvius, a man of equestrian rank, was struck with lightning while 
on horseback, returning with her father to Apulia from the plays at 
Home. Her clothes were torn, her tongue forced out, and the trappings 
of the horse wrenched from his body. On this, the augurs declared that 
the occurrence portended infamy to the knights and the Vestals of Rome. 
A female slave gave information that iEmilia, Licinia, and Martia, three 
Vestals, were carrying on an intrigue with some of the Equites. By the 
direction of the Sibylline books, two Greeks and two Gauls were buried 
alive to propitiate some foreign deities, and a statue was erected to Venus 
Verticordia, ' the changer of hearts/ that she might turn the hearts of the 
females from iniquity. Sulpicia, the wife of Fulvius Flaccus, was selected, 
by reason of the purity of her character, to dedicate the statue. 

44 Plunges headlong.]— Ver. 164. The cosmical setting of the constel- 
lation Scorpio on the calends of April. 

45 The Pleiades begin.'} — Ver. 169. The heliacal setting of the Pleiades 
on the fourth day of the nones of April. They were the daughters of 
Atlas, who was said to support the world on his shoulders ; and, as in their 
setting, the weight of the heavens was supposed to be decreased, they were 
said thereby to ease his shoulders of a part of his burden 



b. iv. 169—18/.] OB, CALENDAR OF OYID. 141 

to relieve the shoulders of their father Atlas : the Pleiades, 
which are wont to be called seven, but which really are but 
six in number. Either it is because but six of them came 
into the embraces of the Gods ; for they say that Sterope 
shared the bed of Mars ; Hdcyone, that of Neptune ; and you, 
beautiful Celseno, Maia, Electra, and Taygete, that of Jupiter. 
Merope, the seventh, was married to a mortal, to thee, 
Sisyphus. 4 ® She repents of this, and in solitude lies concealed, 
through shame of what she did. Or it is, because Electra 
could not endure to look on the ruins of Troy, 47 and placed 
her hand before her eyes. 

Three times let the heavens roll round on their revolving 
axle ; three times let Titan yoke and unyoke his steeds. Forth- 
with the Berecynthian flute 48 shall blow, together with the 
crooked horn, and the festival of the Idaean mother shall take 
place. Her eunuch priests shall walk in procession, and shall 
beat the hollow tambourines, and the cymbals, struck by the 
cymbals, shall send forth their tinklings. She herself shall 
be borne, seated on the eifeminate shoulders of her companions, 49 
carried with loud howlings through the middle of the streets. 
The theatre is resounding, 50 and the games are now summoning 

46 Sisyphus.'] — Ver. 175. He was the son of JEolus, and the founder 
of Corinth. He was notorious for his robberies and frauds, and was con- 
demned to roll a stone up a hill in the infernal regions, which, soon as it 
reached the summit, rolling down again, caused a never-ending toil. 

47 The ruins of Troy.'] — Ver. 177. She was the mother of Dardanus, 
the first of the Trojan kings, and hence is supposed to have felt interest in 
the fate of Troy. 

48 Berecynthian .flute.] — Ver. 181. Berecynthia was a mountain in 
Phrygia, sacred to Cybele, whence the present epithet. Midas is said to 
have invented the flute or pipe here mentioned, which was expanded into 
a curve all round at the end, for the purpose of emitting a deeper sound. 
The body of the pipe was usually of box-wood, or of Libyan lotus wood. 
The end was made of brass or horn. The sacred rites of Cybele were 
performed on Mount Ida, in Phrygia. 

49 Her companions.] — Ver. 185. ' Comitum' is properly used here, as 
the Goddess was carried by a Phrygian man and woman through the 
streets. The other names of Cybele, besides 'the Mother/ or 'Parent of 
the Gods,' were Ops, Rhea, Magna Mater, (or ' the Great Mother,') and 
Dindymene. It would appear that Rhea was originally a Grecian deity, 
Ops, an Italian Goddess, and Cybele, a Phrygian divinity, which in time 
became amalgamated into one object of worship. 

50 The theatre is resounding.] — Ver. 187. On the occasion of the 
Megalesian games, plays were performed in the theatre. The day was 



142 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 187— 205. 

us ; attend the spectacle, Quirites, and let the litigious courts 
be rid of their strife. I wish to ask many a question : but 
the noise of the clashing brass quite frightens me, and the 
curved lotos pipe with its terrific sound. Send, Cybelean 
Goddess, thy grand-daughters, 51 skilled in learning, of whom I 
may inquire what I wish to know. She hears my prayer, and 
desires them to be present at my request. " Disclose to me, 
mindful of her command, ye daughters of Helicon, why the 
great Goddess takes pleasure in a perpetual noise?" Thus I 
spoke. Thus Erato answered me (the month of Cytherea fell 
to her lot, because she bears the name of tender Love 62 ), 
"This oracular answer was returned to Saturn, ( Best of 
kings, by thy son shalt thou be hurled from thy sovereignty.' " 
He, fearing his own offspring, devours each of them as each 
is born, and keeps them, thus swallowed, 53 in his entrails. 
Often did Rhea complain, so often pregnant, and never yet a 
mother ; and she grieved at her own fruitfulness. Jupiter was 
born ; antiquity obtains credit as a witness of importance ; 
hesitate before questioning the received belief. A stone con- 
cealed in a garment lay swallowed in the throat of the God ; 

1 nefastus/ or one on which no work was allowed to be done, which will 
account for the reference to the Forums. Gower's translation of this and 
the preceding lines is very quaint — 

' Thrice more let heaven on const ant axles course. 

Let Sol thrice harness and knock off his horse 

Then straight the Phrygian hornpipe doth resound; 

The Idaean granddame's feast is now renown'd. 

Her eunuchs marching beat their tabrets hollow ; 

From brasse knock'd brasse a noise a noise doth follow. 

She, carry'd on her servant's neck, in pride 

About the streets is whooted to, and cri'd. 

Resort, ye nobles ; scenes and shews do call : 

Now in the court be there no suits at all/ 

51 Thy grand-daughters.'] — Ver. 191. The Muses were the daughters 
of Jupiter ; and Cybele, being identified with Rhea, the wife of Chronos, 
or Saturn, and the mother of Jupiter, they would be her grandchildren. 
The Goddess derived her name from Mount Cybele, in Phrygia. 

52 Name of tender Love."]— Ver. 196. The name of Erato comes from 
the Greek word epwc* ' love.' 

58 Thus swallowed.] — Ver. 199-200. Gower's most comical translation 
is to the following effect — 

* He, fearing this, devoureth every child 
As it came forth, and in his g — ts it killed. ' 



b iv. 206—229.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 143 

thus by the Destinies was the father doomed to be deceived. 
And now the lofty heights of Ida are resounding with the tink- 
lings, that the babe may cry 54 in safety with his infant voice. 
Some, with clubs are beating the shields, some, are rattling 
the empty helmets ; in this work are engaged the Curetes 
and the Corybantes. 55 The truth was concealed from the 
father ; and, as an imitation of what was done in the olden 
time, the attendants of the Goddess still beat the brass and the 
hoarse sounding hides. Cymbals they strike in place of the 
helmets, tambourines for the shields ; the pipe, just as it did 
formerly, yielded its Phrygian notes. 56 She had ended ; I be- 
gan, " Why, to her, does the fierce race of the lions afford for 
the bent yoke their manes, not used to that duty?" I had 
ended ; she then began, " Their savage nature is supposed to 
have been tamed by her : this by her chariot has she attested." 
" But why is her head adorned with a crown of turrets ? Was 
it she that gave their towers to the earliest cities ?" She nodded 
assent. " Whence arose," said I, " the madness in her priests 
of mutilating their own members ?" Soon as I was silent, the 
maid of Pieria began to speak. " Attis, a Phrygian boy, re- 
markable for his beauty, in the woods attached the turret- 
crowned Goddess to him by the ties of a pure love. Him she 
desired to be devoted to herself, to be the keeper of her tem- 
ples ; and she said, ' See that thou always keep thyself in 
chastity.' He pledged his faith to her commands, and said, 
' If I prove false, may that passion by which I commit the 
sin be my last.' He sins, and in his passion for the Nymph 

54 The babe may cry.~\ — Ver. 207 — 212, Gower's translation is — 

' Long had a tink^'ng rung in Ida tall, 
That so the infant might in safety brail. 
The Corybantes and Curetes, some 
On ringing helmets, some on bucklers drum. 
The child's conceal' d. In signe of this, therefore, 
Her followers make their brasse and parchments rore/ 

55 The Corybantes.'] — Ver. 210. The Curetes were those who, accord- 
ing to the legend, danced the Pyrrhic dance, which was performed in 
armour around the cradle of Jupiter. They were also called ' Dactyli.' 
The Corybantes were the priests of Cybele, and were said to have been 
three in number, Damnameneus, Acmon, and Selmo. 

56 Phrygian notes.! — Ver. 214. The Phrygian measure was that used 
in the musical part of religious ceremonies, and was invented by Marsyas, 
a Phrygian. We are told by Aristotle that it was deficient in modulation. 



144 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 229— 262. 

Sagaritis lie ceases to be that which he was before ; on this 
account the wrath of the Goddess exacts vengeance. She de- 
stroys the Nymph by means of wounds inflicted upon a tree ; 
she dies ; that tree formed the destiny of the Naiad. He is 
furious ; and believing that the ceiling of his chamber is 
falling, he takes to flight, and in his course reaches the 
heights of Dindymus. And at one moment he screams out, 
c Away with those torches! 5 at another, ( Away with the 
scourges ! ' Ofttimes he declares that the Goddesses of Paleeste 58 
are nigh at hand. He mangled his body, too, with a sharp 
stone, and his long hair was dragged in the foul dust. His 
cry was, s Such are my deserts : with my blood I am paying 
the deserved penalty ; perish those which in me have been 
the sinning parts ! perish they!' again said he. He emascu- 
lated himself, and in a moment no traces of manhood were left 
to him. His madness became a precedent, and the effeminate 
priests still mutilate themselves as they toss their hair." In 
such words, by the eloquent lips of the Aonian Muse, was the 
cause revealed to me of the madness about which I had made 
this inquiry. " Guide of my task, tell me this also, I pray; 
whence was she brought, when she first arrived here ; or was 
she always in our City?" "The Mother," said she, "was ever 
attached to Dindymus, and Cybele, and Ida, pleasant with its 
fountains, and the realms of IHum. When iEneas was carry- 
ing Troy to the fields of Italy, the Goddess was on the point 
of following the ships with their sacred freights. But she had 
perceived, that not as yet was her Divinity invited to Latium 
by the Destinies, and she had stopped in her native abodes. 
Afterwards, when Rome, powerful in her resources, beheld fi\e 
centuries pass over, and raised her head aloft from the con- 
quest of the world, the priest examined the words of destiny 
in the Eubcean prophecies. They say that on examination 
there were found these words : ' The Mother is far away ; I 
command thee, man of Rome, that thou fetch hither the 
Mother ; when she comes she must be received by the hand 
of chastity/ The senate is perplexed by the obscure terms 
of the mysterious oracle as to who the parent is that is away, 

53 Goddesses of Palcsste.'] — Ver. 236. From the mention of the torches 
and whips it is clear that the Furies are meant. They had a temple in 
Epirus, of which Paleeste was one of the principal cities. 



b. iv. 262—277. OB, CALENDAR OF OYID. 145 

or in what spot she must be sought. Paean 59 is consulted, 
and he answers, " Send for the Mother of the Gods ; she is 
to be found on the heights of Ida." Men of noble rank 60 are 
sent on the mission. Attalus was then swaying the sceptre of 
Phrygia ; he refuses their request 61 to the men of Ausonia. 
Of miracles will I sing ; the earth shook with a prolonged 
murmuring, and thus chd the Goddess speak from her shrines : 
" I myself desired to be sent for. Let there be no de- 
lay ; send me away, thus willing to depart. Rome is a 
place worthy to be the retreat of every Divinity/ 5 He, 
struck with terror at the sound, said, " Depart ; thou wilt 
still be ours ; Rome traces her ancestry to Phrygian fore- 
fathers." Forthwith, axes without number are felling the 
forests of pine, the same which JEneas, the pious Phrygian, 
had made use of in his flight. A thousand hands unite in 
the toil ; and the hollow bark, ornamented with enamelled 
colours, 62 bears the Mother of the inhabitants of heaven. She 
is carried in perfect safety over the waters of her son Neptune, 

59 Pcean.~\ — Ver. 263. This was an epithet of Apollo, from the Greek 
ira'uo, l to strike,' either in allusion to his having slain the serpent Python, 
or from the same word in the sense of ' to cure/ from his being the God 
of medicine. 

b0 Men of noble rank.] — Ver. 265. They were five in number, accord- 
ing to Livy (Book xxix. c. 11) : — M. Valerius Laevinus, of consular rank ; 
M. Cascilius Metellus, a former praetor ; Sulpicius Galba, who had been 
an iEdile ; and Cneius Tremellius Flaccus and M. Valerius Falto. Livy 
says that Attalus, king of Pergamus, readily consented to the request of 
the Senate, being in alliance with the Romans against Philip, their common 
enemy. Attalus was so renowned for his immense wealth, that his name 
passed into a proverb. Having no male offspring by Berenice, his wife, he 
bequeathed all his possessions to the Roman people. 

61 He refuses their request.] — Ver. 266. Livy says the contrary, and 
that he forthwith * gave them the sacred stone, which they said was the 
mother of the Gods, and bade them carry it to Rome.' Arnobius tells us 
that this stone was but small, and could easily be carried by one man ; 
that it was black and tawny in colour, of irregular form, with prominent 
corners. Mr. Keightley, on very good grounds, as it would appear, con- 
siders that it was an aerolithe. Livy says that she was sent for, as the 
Sibylline books prophecied the invasion of a foreign people, and their 
repulse from Italy by her assistance, if brought to Rome. 

62 Enamelled colours.'] — Ver. 275. Perhaps more properly " colours 
subjected to fire." Pliny (Nat. Hist. Book xxxv. c. 41) says that melted 
wax mixed with colours was laid on with a brush, and that it was much 
used for ornamenting ships, as being proof against the action of the sun 
and salt water. 



146 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 273— 300. 

and she reaches the long straits of the sister of Phryxus ; 63 
she passes the destructive Rhcetean Sea, the shore of Sigseum, 
Tenedos, and the ancient realms of Eetion. The Cyclades 
receive her, Lesbos being left behind, and the spot when the 
tide breaks on the shallows of Carystum. She passes, too, 
over the Icarian Sea, where Icarus lost his wings that fell off, 
and he thereby gave a name to that extensive tract of water. 
Then she leaves Crete on her left, on her right, the waters of 
Pelops ; and she comes to Cythera, sacred to Yenus. Hence 
she enters the Trinacrian Sea, 64 in which Brontes, Steropes, and 
Acmonides, 65 are wont to dip the steel when at a white heat : 
she sails over the sea of Africa, and beholds, over the oars, on 
the left side, the realms of Sardinia ; and noiv she makes 
Ausonia. She had arrived at Ostia, where the river Tiber 
empties itself by its two mouths into the deep, and flows in a 
space of greater extent. All those of the Equestrian order, and 
the dignified Senate, intermingled with those of Plebeian rank, 
come to meet her at the mouths of the Etrurian river. Then 
go forth together both mothers and daughters, and brides 
newly become daughters-in-law, and those who tend the sacred 
altars in the virgin state. The men weary their labour- 
ing arms with the rope tightly stretched ; scarcely does the 
stranger bark make way against the stream. Long time had 
the land been parched ; the drought had burnt up the grass. 
The keel, overpowered by the burden of the freight, rests on 

63 Sister of Phryxus'] — Ver. 278. Helle, who gave name to the 
Hellespont. The places here mentioned in succession are, the Hellespont, 
the Rhoetean Sea washing Rhceteuni and Sigaeum, towns of Troy; Tenedos, 
an island within sight of Troy, famous for its earthenware ; Thebes, near 
Adramyttium, the residence of Eetion, the father of Andromache ; the 
Cyclades and Lesbos, Islands of the JEgean Sea, near Delos ; Caristus, in 
Euboea, opposite the isle of Andros •, the Icarian Sea, near Samos, into 
which Icarus fell, when soaring on his wings with his father Daedalus ; 
the isle of Crete, now Candia ; the coast of the Peloponnesus ; the isle of 
Cythera, on the coast of Laconia ; the Sicilian Sea ; the coast of Africa ; 
the island of Sardinia. 

64 The Trinacrian Sea.] — Ver. 287. Trinacriawas the Grecian name of 
Sicily, from its three corners or promontories Pachynus, Pelorus, and Lily- 
baeum. ^Etna, its volcano, was sacred to Vulcan, and its eruptions were 
supposed to be caused by the Cyclops working at the forge. 

65 Acmonides.] — Ver. 288. Virgil calls him Pyracmon. Brontes is 
from fipovTrj, ' thunder;' Steropes from (Trtpoirn, * lightning;' and Ac- 
monides from atcpuv, c an anvil/ 



B. iv. 300— 318.] OK, CALENDAR OF OYID. 14/ 

the shoal covered with mud. Whoever assists at the work is 
labouring even beyond his strength, and by the sound of his 
voice 66 gives aid in keeping time to the power of his arms. 
The vessel settles there just like an island, immoveable in the 
midst of the ocean. Claudia Quinta traced her descent from 
the noble Clausus ; 67 and her beauty was not inferior to her 
noble birth. Chaste, in truth, was she ; but she had not the 
credit of being so ; unjust slander had done her an injury, and 
she was charged on a false accusation. Her style of dress, 68 
and her having appeared in public with her hair fancifully 
adorned, together with the readiness of her replies to the 
austerity of old age, 69 had done her this injury. Her mind, 
conscious of her integrity, laughed to scorn the falsehoods of 
report ; but we are, all of us, a set too ready to believe ill. 
After she had stepped forward from the train of the chaste 
matrons, she took up with her hands some pure water of the 
stream, and thrice did she sprinkle her head, and thrice did 
she raise her hands to the heavens. Those who behold her, 
think that she is deprived of her senses. And now, with 
bending knee, she fixes her looks on the image of the Goddess, 
and with her hair all dishevelled 70 she utters these words, 

^ By the sound of his voice, ,] — Ver. 302. This seems to have, been, 
and still is, a habit peculiar to sailors of all ages and all countries. Mar- 
tial calls the word given to the rowers by the ' pausarius,' or ' horta- 
tor,' (the 'timekeeper'), ' celeusma,' 'the command/ from the Greek 
KsKsvu), 'to order.' Strabo tells us, that it was dangerous for ves- 
sels, when laden, to pass the bar of the Tiber, and that they usually dis- 
charged or lightened their cargo at the mouth. 

67 The noble Clausus.'] — Ver. 305. Atta (or Attus) Clausus migrated 
from Regillum, a Sabine town, to Rome, where his family was received 
into the number of the patricians, five years after the expulsion of the 
Tarquins ; and Attus himself was called Appius Claudius. The Claudia 
here mentioned was the grand-daughter of Appius Claudius Caecus. 

68 Her style of dress.] — Ver. 309-10. Gower's translation is, 

' Her habits brave, and music so delicious, 
And spruce attire, did make her more suspicious.' 

69 The austerity of old age.] — Ver. 310. Perhaps she had been taken 
to task for her gaiety by her seniors, and had told them to mind their own 
business, which did not improve their opinion of her. 

70 Hair all dishevelled.] — Ver. 318. Ornaments were not permitted to 
be worn during the performance of religious ceremonies. Our churches 
at the present day bear no testimony to the continued observance of this 
regulation. 

L 2 



148 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 319— 344. j 

" Genial Goddess, thou fruitful parent of the Gods, receive 
these the prayers of thy supplicant on this express stipulation. 
My chastity is impugned. If thou condenmest me, I will 
confess that I have deserved it. With my death I will pay 
the penalty, if convicted, a Goddess being my judge. But if 
guilt is far from me, thou wilt give by the event a pledge of 
my innocence, and, chaste thyself, thou wilt follow my chaste 
hands." She said, and with a slight effort she drew the rope. 
That which I tell of is wondrous ; but it is still testified by 
the representations of our stage. 71 The Goddess is moved ; 
she follows her guide, and, by following, bestows on her her 
testimony of approbation. A shout, the sign of exultation, 
rises to the sky. They come to the bending of the river ; the 
ancients call that place Ostia, 72 on the Tiber, from which point 
it takes its course to the left. Night had come ; they tie the 
cable to the trunk of an oak, and after a repast they consign 
their bodies to gentle slumber. The morning had now come ; 
they loosen the cable from the trunk of the oak, but first they 
offer frankincense on an altar which they had erected ;, before 
the poop of the vessel, crowned with flowers, they sacrifice a 
heifer, without spot, that had neither borne the yoke nor been 
coupled with the bull. There is a spot where the rapid Almo 
flows into the Tiber, and the lesser stream loses its name in 
that of the greater. There does the hoary priest, in his purple 
vestments, lave the lady Goddess and her sacred utensils in the 
waters of the Almo. 73 His attendants raise on high the howl, 
the maddening pipe is blown, and their effeminate hands strike 
the tightened hides 74 of the oxen. Claudia walks in front, the 
most distinguished by the joyousness of her countenance, with 

71 Our stage.] — Ver. 326. Probably this was one of the stock sub- 
jects of the scenic representations in the theatre, on the occasion of the 
Megalesian games. 

72 Ostia.~\ — Ver. 330. This would seem to be the name of the spot 
where the river divided itself, at some distance from the sea, and not the 
town of Ostia at its mouth, which was founded by Ancus Martius, and was 
celebrated for its salt-pans — ' salinae Ostienses.' 

73 The waters of the Almo.'] — Ver. 340. It was the yearly custom to 
wash both the image of the Goddess, and her chariot, in the waters of the 
Almo. 

74 The tightened hides.'] — Ver. 341-2. Gower's translation is, 

' Her followers hollow. Furious pipes resound ; 
And velome thumpt t' her eunuch's hands redound/ 



b. iv. 344—357.] OR. CALENDAR OP OTK). 149 

difficulty now at last believed to be chaste on the testimony of 
a Goddess. She herself, seated in a car, is carried through the 
Capenian gate ; 75 the yoked oxen are strewed with flowers 
newly plucked. Nasica 76 receives her; though at that time the 
builder of her temple, he has not always continued so. Augus- 
tus has now that character ; formerly Metellus was its builder." 
Here Erato stopped. She paused, to see if I should make 
further inquiries. " Tell me/' said I, " why the Goddess col- 
lects a contribution 77 in a few worthless coins V " Because" 
said she, <e the people contributed the brass, of which Metellus 
formed the shrine ; thence is still extant the custom of giving 
the trifling coin." I inquired why people at that time in par- 
ticular frequent the banquets, giving them, each in his turn, 73 
and spontaneously attend the feasts which are duly proclaimed ? 
" Because," said she, " as with good omen did Berecynthia 
change her abode, so by change of place do they seek for a 
similar omen." I had intended to ask why the Megalesian 

75 The Capenian gate.] — Ver. 345. The Porta Capena opened out on 
the Appian Way. The Marcian aqueduct passed over it. 

76 Nasica."] — Ver. 347. The sacred image was entrusted to P. Corne- 
lius Scipio Nasica, (the son of Cneius Scipio who had been slain in Spain,) 
as being the most worthy citizen. He received her at first into his own 
house, and afterwards she was placed in the temple of Victory, on the 
Palatine hill. Her temple was contracted for by Scipio, but was not dedi- 
cated till thirteen years afterwards, when stage-plays were first acted at 
the Megalesian games, though both had been introduced into the city be- 
fore that period. Livy says that the temple was built by the Censors M. 
Livius and C. Claudius. The latter being the father of the virgin Claudia, 
Burmann suggests that the reading of the line is, ' Templi pater extitit 
auctor,' ' Her father founded the temple.' Metellus afterwards repaired 
it, and Augustus rebuilt it when destroyed by fire. 

77 Collects a contribution.] — Ver. 351. During the festival, while the 
image was being carried through the city, a Phrygian man and woman 
collected alms in small coins, to defray the expenses of the worship of the 
Deity. These persons, from this practice, were called by the Greeks 
firjrpayvprai, signifying 'collectors for the mother.' The poet seems 
to be mistaken in his statement of the reason for the collection. 

78 Each in his turn.] — Ver. 353. It was usual at the Megalesia for 
the principal families to give mutual entertainments, which were duly 
proclaimed, < indicta,' and their friends attended without any special invi- 
tation, and then gave banquets in return. This was called ' mutitare,' 'to 
give and take.' The poet very lamely accounts for the custom and the 
origin of the word, by saying that the Goddess at that season ' changed/ 
1 mutabat,' her abode. 



150 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 357— 376. 

were the first games 79 m our city, when the Goddess, for she 
perceived it, said, " It was she that gave birth to the Gods. 
The others gave way to their parent ; and their Mother has 
the first place in the honour that has been given to them." 
" Why, then/' said I, " do we call those Galli, who have muti- 
lated themselves ; inasmuch as the Gallic region is at so great 
a distance from Phrygia." She said, " Between the green 
Cybele and the lofty Celsenee 80 there flows a stream with mad- 
dening waters, Gallus by name. The person who drinks of 
it goes mad ; depart ye afar thence, you who have a wish for 
a sound mind; the person who drinks of it goes mad." 81 
" Does it not seem a shame," said I, "to place the salad made 
of herbs 82 on the table of the lady Goddess ? Or does there 
exist some peculiar cause for it ?" (e The ancients," she re- 
plied, " are said to have used but simple milk, and such 
herbs as the earth spontaneously produced. The white cheese 
is mixed up with the bruised herbs, that the ancient Goddess 
in them may recognize the ancient diet." 

When the next Pallantias 83 shall have shone, the stars having 
retreated from the sky, and the moon shall have unyoked her 
snow-white steeds, that person who shall then say, " Once, on 

79 The first games.] — Ver. 357-8. Gower's version is — 

' Why, then, are her games Megalesia, 
By Rome kept first ? To this my Muse did say/ 

80 The lofty CeZcence.] — Ver. 362. This was the name of a mountain 
and town of Phrygia, near Mount Cybele, and once the chief place of that 
country. The river Maeander rose on its summit, and the Marsyas in its 
neighbourhood. Pliny, in his Natural History (book xxxi. c. 2), says T 
that the waters of the river Gallus were good for persons afflicted with 
stone, but that taken in excess they produced madness. 

81 Goes mad.'] — Ver. 365-8. Gower thus translates these lines : — 

' It causes madnesse : fly it all in sadnesse, 
That love your wits : The water w T orketh madnesse. 
Upon her table 'tis, said I, in season, 
To set herb puddings : Is there any reason ?' 

82 The salad made of herbs.']— Ver. 367'. ' Moretum.' This mess, if 
it can be called a salad, was a mixture of garlic, parsley, rue, coriander, 
onions, cheese, oil and vinegar. Virgil composed a poem under this name, 
in praise of the mixture. 

83 Pallantias.] — Ver. 373. Aurora is so called from being the cousin 
of Pallas, who was one of the Titans. 



B. iv. 370—390.] OK, CALENDAR OT OYID. 151 

this day, was Public Fortune S4 installed on the hill of Quirinus, ,, 
will be speaking the truth. 

The third day, I remember, was appointed for the games. 
But as I was a spectator, an old man who sat near me, said, 
* f This was the day on which Caesar, in the Libyan regions, 
crushed the traitorous arms of the courageous Juba. S5 Csesar 
was my general ; under him it is my boast to have served as a 
Tribune ; he was the commander in my time of active ser- 
vice. By war have I obtained the distinction of this seat, by 
peace hast thou,* 6 being invested with office in the number of 
the twice five men." About to continue the conversation, we 
were separated by a sudden shower. S7 The vibrating Balance 
was urging downwards the waters of the sky. But before the 
last day puts an end to the shows, the sword-girt Orion shall 
be plunged into the deep. 

When the next dawn shall have looked upon victorious 
Rome, and the stars, put to flight, shall have given place to the 

54 Public Fortune.'] — Ver. 376. The temple to ' Public Fortune/ or the 
' Fortune of the State/ was vowed a.u.c. 549, by the consul Sempronius, 
on the eve of a battle with Hannibal. 

55 The traitorous Juba.] — Ver. 380. After the defeat of Pompey at 
Pharsalia, Cato and Scipio fled to Juba in Numidia for assistance. Caesar 
defeated them with immense slaughter. From his native character as a 
Numidian, the poet calls him 'perndus;' or, perhaps, because he resisted 
Caesar in his career of conquest. Being defeated at Thapsus, he killed 
himself, which act, being one highly approved of in the Roman code of 
morals, would entitle him to the epithet ' magnanimus.' 

85 By peace hast thou.] — Ver. 383. There were fourteen rows in the 
theatre set apart for the Equestrian order, in which the poet might, as a 
member of that order, have taken his seat. It seems doubtful if the Tri- 
bune could have claimed a seat there. But, as a public officer, or rather 
an officer of the Roman army, he was sitting near Ovid, who was then 
filling the office of a Decemvir, on a seat most probably reserved for per- 
sons bearing office. The Decemviri were appointed by Augustus to assem- 
ble the judges, and generally to inspect the management of the courts of 
law. 

87 A sudden shower.'] — Ver. 385. The awning over the theatres was 
only fitted to modify the heat of the rays of the sun, but was not adapted 
to give shelter against rain. On such occasions the people generally took 
refuge in the porticoes till the rain was over. The latter part of the 
speech of the old Tribune is thus translated by Gower : — 

i I served a Tribune under Caesar's banner, 
Lord of my actions ; w T hich I count my honour. 
My warfare me, this place thy gown gave thee ; 
Both raised to the " office of Decemviri." ' 



152 THE FASTI ; [b. iv. 390—420. 

Sun, the Circus will be thronged with the procession 88 and the 
multitude of the Gods; and the first palm shall be contended for 
by steeds that rival the winds in speed. These are the games 
of Ceres ; there is no need of any explanation of their origin ; 
of themselves, both the office and the merits of the Goddess are 
plain to be perceived. To the first mortals, the green grass, 
which the earth yielded without the urgent demand of any 
one, was in the place of the harvest. At one time did they 
pluck the grass from the green sod ; at another time the tree- 
top, with its tender foliage, was their repast. Afterwards, the 
acorn was produced ; well was it with them, now that the 
acorn was discovered ; and the hard oak furnished a sumptuous 
supply. Ceres was the first to change the acorn for a more 
nutritious food, by inviting mankind to a better kind of diet. 
She it was who compelled the bulls to bend their necks to the 
yoke ; then for the first time did the upturned earth see the 
light of the sun. Brass became valuable ; the mass of iron 
still lay hid ; alas ! would that it had ever remained con- 
cealed. Ceres takes delight in peace ; and do you, ye hus- 
bandmen, pray that peace may be everlasting, and that our 
Prince may be immortal. Ye may offer to the Goddess the 
spelt and the tribute of the crackling grain of salt, and the 
cloves of frankincense, upon her ancient hearths ; and if ye 
shall be without frankincense, then set fire to the unctuous 
torches. Little offerings are pleasing to the good Ceres, if they 
are only pure. Ye aproned attendants of the priests, remove 
the knives afar from the ox — the ox may plough — sacrifice 
rather the idle swine. A neck that is fitted by nature for the 
yoke ought not to be smitten by the axe ; let him live rather, 
and many a time may he labour on the hard soil. This oppor- 
tunity now calls upon me to tell of the rape of the Virgin. 
The greater part of the story you wili recal to your memory . 
on a few points you will require to be informed. The Trinac. 

88 Thronged with the procession, ,"] — Ver. 391. On the first day of the 
Ludi Cereales, there was a 'pompa' or procession, from the Capitol, 
through the Forum, to the Circus Maximus. The officers of state preceded, 
followed by the men of age for military service on foot and horseback. 
Then followed the chariots with four, and two horses, and then those with 
hut one horse ; musicians and dancers followed, and the procession closed 
with the images of numerous Gods earned either in chariots or on men's 
shoulders. The palm-branch was given to the conquerors in the games as 
the token and prize of victory. 



b. iv. 420— 439.] OK, CALEISDAE, OF OYID. 153 

rian land juts out into the vast ocean with three rocks, deriving 
its name from the position of the spot. It is a habitation 
delightful to Ceres ; there possesses she many a city, among 
which is the fruitful Henna, 89 with its well-tilled soil. Cold 
Arethusa had invited the matrons of the inhabitants of heaven ; 
the yellow-haired Goddess, too, had come to the sacred ban- 
quet. Her daughter, attended as she was by the damsels, her 
constant companions, was wandering with bare foot along 
her own meadows. There was a spot at the bottom of a shady 
vale, watered by the plenteous spray of the stream that falls 
from a height. There were as many tints there as nature 
possesses, and the ground was beauteous, decked with flowers 
of diversified hue. Soon as she beheld this she said, " Come, 
my companions, and together with me fill your bosoms with 
the flowers." The worthless prize delights their girlish minds ; 
and, in their earnestness, the toil is not felt. One is filling 
baskets woven of the pliant osier, another one is loading her 
lap, another the bosom of her dress loosened for the purpose. 
One is gathering marygolds, to another the beds of violets are 
an object of search; another, with her nail, is cropping the 
blossom of the poppy. Some thou engagest, hyacinth, 90 some 

89 Fruitful Henna.'] — Ver. 422. This town, called also Enna, was, 
from its central situation, called the ' navel* of Sicily. It had a sacred 
grove and a temple. Sicily was of proverbial fertility, whence it was con- 
sidered the chosen abode of Ceres. She had a temple there, founded by 
Gelon, of Syracuse, containing two images of the divinity, one in marble, 
the other in brass. Ovid relates this story at some length in the fifth 
Book of the Metamorphoses. Arethusa was the nymph of a fountain at 
Syracuse, and is said by some of the poets to have been privy to Pluto's 
designs against Proserpine. Homer gives Nysa, in Caria, as the scene of 
her abduction, other authors, Attica, Arcadia, or Crete. Gower's transla- 
tion of the 419th and 420th lines will oblige us to give a rather Hiber- 
nian twang to the end of the first line — 

1 A land with three rocks crowds into the sea, 
From its triangle called Trinacria.' 

00 Hyacinth^ — Ver. 439. Hyacinthus, a beauteous youth, having been 
accidentally slain by Apollo, was changed by the God into a hyacinth, 
which, according to the exuberant fancy of the poets, bears in its flowers 
the impress of the letters 'At, 'At, expressive, in the Greek language, of 
* alas ! alas ! ' uttered by Apollo in his grief. The same flower is said to 
have sprung from the blood of Ajax when he killed himself, bearing the 
above letters, expressive either of grief, or as denoting the first two letters 
of the name of Ajax, *Aiae,\ 



154 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 439— 4G9. 

thou detainest, amaranth; some choose the thyme, some the 
rosemary, and some the melilote ; many a rose is gathered, 
and many a nameless flower is there. She herself is pluck- 
ing the delicate crocuses and the white lilies. In her eager- 
ness to gather them, the distance is gradually increased, and 
by chance none of her companions follow their mistress. 
Her uncle espies her, and having seen her, in haste he bears her 
away, and on his azure- coloured steed carries her to his own 
realms. She indeed cries aloud, " Alas ! my dearest mother ! 
I am being carried away !" and with her own hand she rends her 
garments in despair. Meantime, a way is opened 91 to Pluto ; 
for his steeds, unused to it, can scarcely endure the light of 
day. But the company of her companions, their baskets 
being heaped with flowers, cry aloud, " Come, Persephone, to 
thy presents." When thus called on, she returns not an 
answer; they fill the mountains with their wailings, and 
with sorrowing hand beat their naked bosoms. Ceres was 
amazed at the lamentation ; she had just come to Henna, and 
straightway she exclaimed, " Woe is me ! my daughter, where 
art thou?" In distraction she is hurried along, just as we 
are wont to hear that the Thracian Bacchanals, 92 in their 
raving, go with their hair all dishevelled. As lows the mother 
when her calf has been torn from her udder, and she seeks for 
her offspring throughout the wood, even so does the God- 
dess ; she restrains not her wailing, and is swiftly borne on her 
course ; and she begins it from thy plains, Henna. She 
finds the marks of the virgin's foot leading thence, and sees 
where the ground has been imprinted with the well-known 
pressure. Perhaps that would have been the last day of her 
wanderings, had not the swine confused the traces which she 
had discovered. And now in her course she passes the people 
of Leontium and the streams of Amenanus, and thy banks, 
grassy Acis. She passes, too, Cyane, and the spring of the 

91 A way is opened."] — Ver. 449. According to Cicero, the descent was 
through a lake near the city of Syracuse ; but he says that the God ,had 
ascended through a vast cavern near Henna. 

92 Bacchanals.'] — Ver. 458. They are called ' Maenades,' from the 
Greek fiaivopai, ' to rave in madness/ as their frantic gestures formed part 
of their worship. Gower thus translates this and the preceding line, — 

* About she hurries, in a dead distraction, 
Like shrews of Bacchus in their frantic action/ 



B. iv. 460—500.] OE, CALENDAR OP OYID. 155 

gently flowing Anapus, and thee, Gela, not to be approached 
by reason of thy eddies. She had noiv left behind Ortygia, 
and Megara, and Pantagias, and the spot where the ocean 
receives the waters of Symsethus, and the caves of the Cyclops, 
burned up by the forges which had been erected there, and 
the place which has the name of the curved sickle, and Hi- 
mera, and Didyme, and Agrigentum, and Tauromenus, and 
Mela, the joyful pasture of the sacred oxen. 93 Hence she 
goes to Camerina, and Thapsos, and the glens of the Helorus, 
and the spot where Eryx, ever exposed, lies open to the breeze 
of the Zephyr. And now had she visited the mountain of 
Pelorus, and Lilybeeum, and Pachynus, the three headlands 
of her island. Wherever she comes, she rills every place with 
her pitiable complaints, just as when the bird is bewailing her 
lost Itys. In turns, she exclaims at one time, "Persephone !" 
at another, " My daughter !" and, in alternate cries, she calls 
on her by either appellation. But neither did Persephone 
hear Ceres, nor the daughter her mother ; and, in their turn, 
each appellation fell dead on her ear. And if Ceres saw a 
shepherd or any one tilling the fields, this was her one speech, 
"Has any girl passed this way?" And now the world has 
but one hue, and all things are enwrapped in darkness ; even 
the watchful dogs have now ceased their barking. The lofty 
iEtna lies on the face of the gigantic Typhosus, with whose 
blazes, emitted by his pan tings, the ground is on fire. Then 
she lights two pines for a torch : from this circumstance, even 
to this day, the torch is used in the sacred rites of Ceres. 
There is a cave, rough with the erected piles of the excavated 
pumice-stone, a place to be approached neither by man nor 
by wild beast. As soon as she arrives thither, she joins the 
harnessed dragons to her car, and, untouched by the waters, 
she traverses the waves of the ocean. She escapes the Syrtes, 
and thee, Zanclsean Charybdis, 94 and you, dogs of the daughter 

93 The sacred oxen.~\ — Ver. 475-6. Gower thus renders these lines,— 

4 Then Himere, Didym, Agrigentum, and 
Tauromenus : thence to Mela's Holy-ox-land. ' 

The curved sickle is mentioned a few lines above, in allusion to the old 
name of Messina, which was Zancle, meaning, in the Sicilian language, 
4 a sickle,' from a fancied resemblance to that implement in the form of 
the spot. 

94 Charybdis.} — Yer. 499. This was a violent and dangerous whirlpool 



lo6 THE FASTI; [b. IV. 500—519. 

of Nisus, monsters boding shipwreck, and tlie Adriatic, ex- 
tending far and wide, and Corinth, situate on two seas ; and 
thus she arrives at thy harbours, land of Attica. Here, for the 
first time, immersed in sorrow, she took rest on a cold rock, — 
that rock even to the present day, the people of Cecrops call the 
Rock of Sorrow. 95 Unshaken in her purpose, she remained 
unsheltered from the weather for many a day, exposing her- 
self to the rays of the moon and the drenching shower. Each 
place has its own destiny ; where now is Eleusis of Ceres, is 
said to have been the farm of the old man Celeus. 97 He was 
carrying home acorns and blackberries shaken down from the 
bramble thickets, and dry logs for the hearth, to be lighted 
there. His little daughter was driving homeward two goats 
from the crag, and his infant son was lying sick in the cradle. 
4f Mother/' says the damsel, (the Goddess was moved at the 
name of mother,) " what art thou doing, thus unattended, in 
these lonely hills V 9 The old man, too, stops, though heavy 
is his burden, and begs of her to come under the roof of his 
cottage, humble though it be. She declines; she had as- 
sumed the form of an old woman, and had confined her locks 
with a turban. When he has renewed his invitation, she then 
replies, " Unharmed mayst thou be, and a parent mayst 
thou ever remain. My daughter has been taken away from 

in the straits of Messina. Scylla was another whirlpool in its neighbour- 
hood. Scylla, the daughter of Phorcus and Chretheis, was beloved by 
Glaucus ; Circe, in a fit of jealousy, poisoned the stream in which she 
bathed, on which she became transformed into a monster begirt with bark- 
ing dogs, and, casting herself into the sea, she was changed into a rock 
surrounded with a howling whirlpool. The poet here confounds her with 
Scylla, the daughter of Nisus, king of Crete, who betrayed her father to 
Minos, by cutting off his lock of purple hair, on which his safety depended. 
The places previously mentioned are all towns, mountains, or rivers of 
ancient Sicily. 

95 The Rook of Son*ow.^ — Ver. 504. This rock, on which the Goddess 
first seated herself on her arrival in Greece, was called ayeXacrrog warpa, 
' the rock of mourning.' 

96 Eleusis.'] — Ver. 507. Eleusis was a maritime town of Attica, on the 
western side of the Cephisus. It was so named from 'EXsvviz, ' an arrival/ 
because Ceres arrived there on her first entrance into Greece. Her worship, 
attended with the secret and far-famed Eleusinian mysteries, prevailed there. 

9 ? Celeus. ~\ — Ver. 508. Instead of being a poor old man, as here repre- 
sented, Homer and other writers represent him as being the king of 
Eleusis, which, in fact, had been built by Ogyges 400 years before this 
period. 



B. iv. 519 — 551.] OB. CALE3DAU OF OVID. 157 

me. Alas ! how much happier is thy lot than mine !" She 
spoke, and a crystal drop, like a tear (for the Gods do not 
shed tears, 9S ) fell upon her bosom made warm thereby. Kind 
in disposition, the damsel and her aged father vied in weeping 
with her, and these were the words of the good old man, 
"J pray that thy lost daughter whom thou art seeking 
may return safe to thee ; but arise, and do not despise the 
shelter of my humble cottage." To him the Goddess an- 
swered, " Lead on, thou knowest the art of persuading me ;" 
and so saying, she arises from the rock and follows after the 
old man. Her guide tells his companion how that his son is 
ill and enjoys no repose, but is kept awake by his malady. 
As she is about to enter the humble abode, she gathers the 
soporiferous poppy from the soil of the field. While she is 
gathering it, she is said to have tasted it with forgetful palate, 
and thoughtlessly to have broken her lengthened fast. In- 
asmuch as she put an end to her fasting in the beginning of 
the night, those who are initiated" choose the time of the 
stars appearing as the hour for breaking their fast. When 
she enters the threshold she sees all things pervaded by mourn- 
ing : there was now no hope of recovery in the child. Having 
saluted the mother, (her name was Metanira,) she deigns to 
touch the mouth of the boy with her own. His paleness of 
colour departs, and sudden vigour waxes strong in his body — 
such a degree of strength was it that passed from the celestial 
lips. The whole house is joyful, that is to say, the father, 
the mother, and the daughter ; these three formed the whole 
household. Presently they serve up the -repast, curds dis- 
solved in milk, and apples, and the golden honey in its fresh 
combs. The genial Ceres fasts, and gives to thee, boy, 
poppies, the promoters of sleep, to be drunk infused in warm 
milk. J Twas midnight, and there was now the stillness of tran- 
quil slumber; she raised Triptolemus 1 in her lap, and thrice 

98 Do not shed tears.'] — Ver. 521. As the Gods did not live on mortal 
food, but on ambrosia and nectar, nor shed blood when wounded, but a 
peculiar fluid, called '* Ichor,' it is not surprising that they did not secrete 
tears similar to those of mortals. 

99 Those who are initiated.] — Ver. 536. ' Mystae/ Those who were 
initiated in ' the Eleusinian mysteries' fasted until the evening, in imitation, 
it was supposed, of the conduct of Ceres on the present occasion. 

1 Triptolemus.'] — Ver. 550. In the Homeric poem, which has come 
down to us on this subject, the son of Celeus is called Deraophoon, while 



158 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 551— 570. 

with her hand did she stroke him, three verses did she utter, 
verses not to be repeated by mortal voice ; and on the hearth 
she covered the body of the boy with the live embers, that the 
fire might purge away that burden, mortality, the common lot 
of man. The mother, unwisely affectionate, is roused from 
her slumbers, and distracted, she cries out, " What art thou 
doing?" and snatches his limbs from the fire. To whom the 
Goddess said, " While in intention thou art not, yet in fact 
thou hast proved a cruel parent ; by the fears of a mother are 
my gifts rendered worthless. Mortal, indeed, shall he now 
remain, but yet he shall be the first to plough, and to sow, 
and to bear away the rewards of his labour from the ground 
that he has tilled." Ceres thus speaks, and as she goes forth, 
she carries a cloud that envelopes her, and now she betakes her- 
self to her dragon steeds, 2 and is borne on her winged chariot. 
She leaves behind her the unsheltered Sunium, and Piraeus 2 * 
secure with its winding harbour, and the coast which is situate 
on its right side. Thence she enters on the iEgean sea, in 
which she beholds all the Cyclades, and she passes over the 
destructive Ionian and the Icarian sea ; through the cities 
of Asia she seeks the long Hellespont, and soaring on high, 
she wends her varied way through different spots. For now 
she is looking down upon the Arabs that collect the frank- 
incense, and now, upon the Indians; afterwards, the Libyan 
lands, then Meroe, and then the land of Drought 3 is beneath 

Apollodorus represents Triptolemus as the elder son. Ovid represents the 
facts recited as being the occurrences of a single night. Other writers 
represent Ceres as nightly burning out the gross and mortal parts of the 
child, and by day restoring the loss, by rubbing in ambrosia, until inter- 
rupted by the mother, when she gave up her intention of conferring immor- 
tality, but committed to him the guardianship of her mysteries, with a 
promise of immortal fame. 

2 Her dragon steeds,'] — Ver. 561-2. Gower thus writes these lines — 

* Thus forth she goes, and with a cloud attended, 
Her winged-dragon mounted coach ascended. ' 
2 * Sunium and PirausJ] — Yer. 563. The former was a promontory 
of Attica ; the latter was the sea-port of Athens, consisting of three natural 
inlets, Pirseus, properly so called, Cantharon, and Zea. 

3 The land of Drought.'] — Ver. 570. This was ^Ethiopia. Meroe was 
an island of that country, formed by the Nile. Josephus says that its ori- 
ginal name was Saba, but that Cambyses called it Meroe, after his wife or 
sister who died there. As Mr. Thynne justly remarks, Ovid does not 
observe any topographical order, but characterises the wildness of the 
Goddess by the fact of her rushing indiscriminately from place to place. 



b. iv. 570—601.] OE, CALEISDAB OF OVID. 1.5D 

her. And now she reaches the Hesperian streams, the 
Rhine, the Rhone, and the Po, and thee, Tiber, destined to 
be the parent of a mighty stream. Whither am I borne ? 
'twere an unlimited task to tell the lands that she wandered 
over — no spot in the world was left unvisited by Ceres. She 
wanders, too, along the sky, and she addresses those Constel- 
lations nearest to the icy Pole, that are exempt from immersion 
in the watery ocean. " Stars of Parrhasia, for ye are able to 
know all things, since never do ye set beneath the billows of 
the sea, discover my daughter Persephone to her wretched 
mother." She had thus said; and thus to her did Helice 4 
reply : " The night is free from blame ; question the Sun about 
the stealing of the damsel, who far and wide beholds what is 
done in the light of the day." The Sun, being visited, says, 
" Labour not in vain ; she whom thou art seeking, now the 
bride of the brother of Jove, is the mistress of the third em- 
pire." Long having complained to herself, she thus addressed 
the Thunderer, and deep were the traces of grief on her coun- 
tenance. " If thou bearest in mind by whom Persephone 
was born to me, she ought to have an equal share of thy 
regard. Having wandered over the whole world, the law- 
lessness of the deed alone is discovered by me ; the ravisher 
still holds the reward of his crime. But neither is Persephone 
deserving of a ravisher for her husband, nor should a son-in- 
law have been provided for thee and me after such a fashion 
as this. What greater misfortune could I have endured, as a 
captive, had Gyges 5 been victorious, than I have now borne, 
while thou art holding the sceptre of heaven. But let him have 
carried her away with impunity, and let me bear these things 
unavenged ; only let him restore her, and let him make 
amends for his former deeds by his recent ones." Jupiter 
mollifies her, and excuses the act on the plea of passion, 
and says, " He is not a son-in-law for us to be ashamed 
of. I myself am not of more noble birth ; my realm is situate 
in the heavens ; one of my brothers sways the waters ; another 
the vacant realms of Chaos. But if perchance thy resolution 

4 Helice.] — Ver. 580. The Constellation of the Greater Bear ; see 
Book iii. ver. 108. Parrhasia was one of the names of Arcadia. 

5 GygesJ] — Ver. 593. He was one of the hundred-handed giants who 
warred with Jupiter for the dominion of the heavens, being the brother 
of Briareus. 



160 THE FASTI ; [b. iv. 601—613. 

is unchangeable, and it is thy determination to dissolve the 
bonds of wedlock when once united, this that thou desirest we 
will assay, if it is the fact that she has continued fasting ; 6 if 
not, the wife of the monarch of the infernal regions she shall 
be. The God, bearer of the Caduceus, departs to Tartarus, 
having assumed his wings, and, returning sooner than is 
hoped for, reports the ascertained result of his visit. " The 
damsel that has been carried off," says he, " has broken her 
fast with three of the grains which the pomegranate conceals 
beneath its thin rind." The wretched mother grieved, in no 
less degree than if her daughter had that moment been carried 
away, and scarcely, by the lapse of time, did she recover. And 
thus did she say : " The heavens are not to be inhabited by me : 
command that I, as well, may receive admittance into the valley 
of Tsenarus." 7 And she would have done so, had not Jupiter 
made the stipulation that Persephone should be for twice three 
months in each year in heaven. Then, at length, did Ceres 
recover her former looks and her spirits, and placed upon her 
locks the garlands of wheat. Plenteously, too, did the harvest 
spring up in the fields, whbse produce had been interrupted, 
and hardly did the threshing floor suffice to hold the stores 

6 Continued fasting.'] — Ver. 603. The poets in general represent it as 
a rule that no one could return from Erebus who had once eaten there. 
In the Homeric Hymn, Pluto purposely induces Proserpine to eat the 
pomegranate grains, that he may avail himself of this law. Gower gives 
a quaint translation of this and the nine succeeding lines : — 

' We'll try this means ; sh' is thine, if meat sh' abstein ; 
If not, sh' must th' infernall bride remain. 
Caduceus sails to Styx on nimble wings, 
And quick as thought eye-witness'd tidings brings. 
She had her stomach staid with kernels three 
Of th' apple pluck'd from the pomegranate tree. 
She mourns as much as if herself had now 
Been forc'd away, and scarce could grief outgrow : 
And there she cries, Youy heaven to me is hateful ; 
Let me go to live in Tartary more gratefull.' 

The inhabitants of the Tartary of our day would not feel nattered by this 
adaptation of the name of their country, if they heard it. 

7 The valley of Tcenarus.~\ — Ver. 612. Taenarus was a promontory of La- 
conia, now Cape Matapan. In a vale, or in its vicinity, was a cave, sacred 
to Neptune, which was said to be the entrance to the infernal regions, through 
which Hercules dragged Cerberus to the upper world. ' Chaos/ is used, a 
few lines preceding, by poetical license, to signify 'the infernal regions.' 



B. iv. 618— 639.] OE, CALENDAR OE OYID. 161 

piled up there. Things which are white are befitting Ceres : 
on the feast of Ceres put on white garments ; at this season 
the wearing of woollen robes of dark colour is not allowed. 

Jupiter, surnanied Victor, 8 takes to himself the Ides of April ; 
on this day was a temple dedicated to him. On this day, too, 
if I mistake not, did Liberty, most worthy of our race, begin 
to possess her own mansions. 

On the following day, do thou, sailor, repair to safe har- 
bours ; a gale, mingled with hail, will come from the west. 
In good truth, be this as it may, it is the fact, that on 
this day, in such a storm, did Caesar and his troops conquer 
the arms of the enemy at Mutina. 9 When now the third 
day of the Ides of the month of Venus shall have dawned, 
perform the sacrifice with a cow that is pregnant. A 
cow, that is bearing and with young, is called "forda," 10 from 
' ' fero," [to bear] ; from this word, too, it is believed that 
the foetus derives its name. Now are the cattle pregnant ; 
the earth is teeming with the seed ; to the pregnant earth a 
pregnant victim is offered. Some are slain in the Capitol, the 
heights of Jove. The court-houses 11 receive thrice ten heifers, 
and become wet, besprinkled with the streams of blood. But 
when the attendants of the priests have snatched the calves 
from the womb, and have consigned the entrails, when cut out, 
to the smoking altars, she who is by birth the oldest of the 

8 Victor. ] — Ver. 621. In a war with the Samnites, a.u.c. 457, Q. 
Fabius Maximus vowed to erect a temple to Jupiter Victor. The temple 
of Liberty was dedicated on Mount Aventine, in the second Punic war, 
by the father of the Gracchi. It was repaired a.u.c. 559, by the Censors, 
and rebuilt by Asinius Pollio, in the reign of Augustus. To this last circum- 
stance the poet seems here to refer. 

9 Mutina.'] — Ver. 627. The battle of Mutina was fought against 
Antony by the Consuls Hirtius and Pansa, and the propraetor Octavianus 
(afterwards Augustus Caesar), a.u.c. 710, and ended in the defeat of 
Antony. The two Consuls died of their wounds, and Augustus was 
thereby enabled to appropriate the glory of the victory to himself. The 
poet, in his flattery, would seem to imply that the hailstorm was of 
Augustus's own special brewing for the occasion. 

10 Is called 'forda.']— Ver. 630. Varro, on Rustic Matters, Book ii. 
c. 5, calls this word ' horda,' and the festival ' Hordicidia,' or ' Hordicalia;' 
originating in the digamma, the H and the F of the ancients often be- 
tokened convertible sounds. 

11 The court-houses.] — Ver. 635. ' Curia/ The singular is here used 
for the plural. One cow was sacrificed in the l curia,' or i court-house,' of 
each of the thirty ' curiae.' 

M 



162 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 639— 670. 

Vestal Virgins burns the calves with fire, that, on the festival of 
Pales, those ashes may purify the people. When Numa was 
king, the crops not repaying the labour expended on them, the 
wishes of the disappointed husbandman remained ungratified. 
For, at one time, the year was suffering from drought through 
the cold northern blasts, at another time the soil became too 
luxuriant from constant showers. Often did the corn disap- 
point the owner, while in the rising blade, and the barren wild 
oat stood on the soil choked up with it. The cattle, too, 
before their time, used to yield immature births, and oft did 
the lamb, at its yeaning, prove the death of the ewe. There 
stood an ancient grove, which had for many a year remained 
inviolate by the axe, left as sacred to the Meenalian deity. He 
used to give responses in the stilly night 12 to the soul when at 
rest ; here does the King Numa offer two sheep in sacrifice. 
The first is offered to Faunus, the next to gentle Sleep ; the 
fleece of each is spread upon the hard ground. Twice is his 
unshorn head sprinkled with water of the fountain; twice 
does he wreathe his temples with the beechen bough. The 
joys of love are forbidden ; it is not allowed to place animal 
food on the table, and no ring is left upon the finger. Clad 
in a coarse garment, he places the fresh fleeces upon his 
person, having worshipped the Deity in an address in the form 
prescribed. In the meantime the night comes, her gen- 
tle brow crowned with the poppy, and, with her, escorts the 
shadowy dreams. Faunus comes, and with his hard foot 
pressing the fleeces of the sheep, he utters such words as 
these from the right side of the couch : 13 f c king, thou must 
appease the earth by the sacrifice of two cows ; let the death 
of one yield two lives to the sacrifice." His rest is broken by 
terror ; Numa ponders over his vision, and reflects within 
himself on these dark sayings and the hidden injunctions. 
His wife, to the grove most dear, relieves him in his per- 
plexity, and says, " Thou art asked for the entrails of a preg- 

12 In the stilly night. ] — Ver. 651. The peculiar name of the sleep of 
divination or prophecy with the Romans was ' incubatio,' and among the 
Greeks, kvKoifirjaic. It is possible that from this superstition may be de- 
rived the not uncommon saying among us, ' I will sleep on it,' used by a 
person who intends to give a matter all due consideration. 

13 Right side of the couch.} — Ver. 664. This boded an auspicious visit 
of the Deity. 



b. iv. 670—687.] OB, CALEKDAE OF OVID. 163 

nant cow." The entrails of a pregnant cow are offered, a 
year more happy ensues, and the earth and the cattle bring 
forth their increase. This day, too, did Venus once com- 
mand to press on its course with greater haste, and downwards 
she urged the steeds of the heavens ; that, with the utmost 
speed, on the following day, success in war might confer the 
title of empire 14 on the young Augustus. 

But now, when the fourth light-bearing day looks back on 
the by-gone Ides, on this night do the Hyades visit Doris. 15 

When the third moon shall have dawned, after the departure 
of the Hyades, the Circus shall receive the steeds started from 
the goal. 16 I must teach the reason why the she-foxes let go, 
have their tails burning with fire-brands 17 fastened to them. 
Cold was the land at Carseoli, 18 and not fit for the production 
of the olive, but a soil naturally fertile in corn. By this way, 
was I journeying to the land of the Peligni, the country of my 
birth, small, but ever watered by the constant rains. I en- 
tered the well-known abode of an old friend of mine ; Phcebus 

u The title of empire.']— Ver. 676. On the ]6th of the Calends of 
May, a.u.c. 724, Augustus Caesar was first saluted by the senate with the 
title of ' Imperator,' on account of his victories. This honour, according 
to Tacitus and Dio Cassius, was conferred on him twenty-one times. It 
appears to have been distinguished from the word ' imperator,' signifying 
4 emperor,' by being placed after the name of the person, whereas the title 
of the emperor was placed before it. The nearest English translation of 
the word seems to have been ' successful leader/ 

15 Hyades visit Doris.'] — Ver. 679. On the 15th of the Calends of 
May, the Hyades set acronychally. Doris was the daughter of Oceanus, 
the wife of Nereus, and the mother of the Nereides ; her name is here 
used to signify ' the sea/ 

16 The steeds started from the goal.] — Ver. 680. * Carcere partitas/ 
The ' career' was the place where the horses stood, with a cord stretched 
before them, on the dropping of which they started. ' Partitus' means 
literally ' divided,' that is ' from the course,' by the cord just mentioned. 

17 Burning with fire-brands.] — Ver. 681-2. Gower thus renders these 
lines, — 

' Here let one tell, why foxes on the rails 
Run loose with fire-links at their backs and tails/ 

18 Carseoli.] — Ver. 683. This was a town of the iEqui, situate near the 
river Anio. Ovid seems to relate a custom that prevailed at Rome, and which 
had been borrowed from a rustic ceremony at Carseoli, of which he here 
narrates the origin. The reader cannot fail to call to mind how the idea 
of doing mischief to his enemies by a similar contrivance came to the 
mind of the unfortunate but wrong-headed Nazarite, Samson. 

M 2 



164 



THE FASTI ; [b. iv. 687—712. 



had already taken the yoke from off his exhausted steeds. 19 
He was wont to tell me many other things, and this story as 
well, by which my present work might be furnished with in- 
formation. " In this plain," said he, pointing to the plain, 
" a frugal peasant woman, with her hardy husband, used to 
own a little bit of land. He used to work it himself, whether 
there was occasion for the use of the plough, or the curved 
sickle, or the spade. She sometimes used to sweep out the 
cottage supported on the buttress, 20 and sometimes used to 
set the eggs to be hatched by the plumage of the parent bird ; 
or now she is collecting the green mallows, or the white mush- 
room, or makes warm their humble hearth with the cheer- 
ful fire. And yet she finds time and employs her arms at the 
web constantly plied by her, and thereby, she prepares a defence 
against the menaces of the winter. She had a son, sportive in 
the dawn of life ; he had added two years to two ' lustra. 5 
He catches a fox in a sloping corner at the end of the willow 
grove : she had carried off many a bird from their poultry 
yard. 21 He wraps the captive in stubble and hay, and sets fire 
to her ; she escapes from his hands, as he is applying the fire. 
Wherever she flies, she sets in a blaze the fields, at that time 
clothed with the harvest ; the breeze gave strength to the 
all-consuming flames. The occurrence has long since passed 
away: the recollection of it still remains; for, even to this day, 
does the law of Carseoli forbid a she-fox when caught to be 
suffered to live ; and that this tribe may atone for their fault, 
they are set on fire on the festival of Ceres, and perish in the 

19 His exhausted steeds. — Ver. 687-8. Gower's translation is curious, — 

* Into an old acquaintance-house I turned, 

Just as Sol's coach-horse had their day's task journeyed/ 

Does he mean to say that his old acquaintance and ' Sol's coach-horse' had 

journeyed together, or that the house and the coach-horse had travelled in 

company ? It is not clear why he limits the sun to one horse on this day. 

20 On the buttress.] — Ver. 695. ' Tibicine.'' This was a prop or 
buttress placed at the side of a house to prevent it from falling. It 
evidently implies here the decayed and humble nature of the building. 

21 Their poultry-yard.] — Ver. 704. ' Cohortis.' Cato tells us that the 
cohors was round, and, from what Varro says, it appears to have been 
covered over. On Rustic Affairs, Book hi., c. 3, s. 6, — ' There were two 
(' cohortes/ or) receptacles for poultry ; one level with the ground, where 
cocks and hens were fed ; the other aloft, in which pigeons inhabited 
turrets or the tops of a house. ' Perhaps the turrets and the house were 
mimic ones, such as may be seen at the present day in fancifully built 
dovecotes. 



B. iv. 712 728.] OB, CALENDAR OF OVID. 165 

very manner in which the one that I have mentioned destroyed 
the standing corn. 

When next the saffron-coloured mother of Memnon shall 
have come, upon her rosy-coloured steeds, to visit the broad 
earth, then passes away the light of the sun from the leader 
of the wool-bearing nock, him who betrayed Helle. As he de- 
parts, a larger animal™ oft used as a victim, is at hand. Whe- 
ther it be a cow or a bull it is not easy to know ; the fore 
parts appear, the hinder parts are concealed. But whether 
this Constellation is a bull or whether a cow, against the will 
of Juno, 23 it enjoys the reward of love. 

The night has passed away, and morning dawns. I am 
called to the Palilia ; 24 and I am not called in vain, if genial 
Pales favours me. Genial Pales, do thou favour the poet who 
celebrates thy shepherd rites ; if with pious attention I describe 
thy festival. Many a time, in truth, have I carried in my full 
hand the ashes of the calf and the bean stalks, the holy pur- 
gatives. Often, in truth, have I leaped over the fires placed in 
three rows, and the dripping bough of laurel 25 has flung the 

32 A larger animal.'] — Ver. 716. As Mr. Keightley justly observes, 
this is a bad periphrasis, as being very awkwardly worded. He says, 
that now the sun leaves the Constellation of the Ram, but enters that of 
a larger animal, in common use as a victim, namely, the Bull. 

23 Against the will of Juno.] — Ver. 720. Whether it was the bull 
which carried off Europa, or the cow into which Io had been changed, it 
was, by reason of the infidelity of Jupiter, equally an object of aversion to 
Juno. The fore part only of this Constellation is represented in the signs 
of the Zodiac when depicted. 

24 The Palilia.]—Ver. 721. On the 11th of the calends of May, the 
anniversary of the foundation of the city, the festival of Pales, the God- 
dess of the shepherds, was held. Some writers considered Pales as being 
originally a male deity, the servant and bailiif of Jupiter. The festival is 
also by some authors called ' Parilia,' as being from ' pario,' ' to bring 
forth/ 

25 Bough of laurel.] — Ver. 728. The olive, laurel, rosemary, or pine, 
were usually employed to disperse the lustral water. Gower thus trans- 
lates this and the three preceding lines, — 

* I oft calves' ashes and bean-straws have held, 
With burn'd purgations in a hand well fill'd ; 
Oft ore the bone-fires have I. tane three hops, 
And dew'd myself with holy-water-drops/ 
These rites doubtlessly originated in the universally received notion of the 
purifying power of fire. Dionysius says, that while. building the city, 
Romulus had fires kindled, and made his people jump through them for 
the purposes of expiation. 



166 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 728—755. 

sprinkled waters. Lo ! the Goddess has been moved, and she 
grants success to my undertaking. My bark leaves the dock, 
my sails now have favoring breezes. Proceed, you multi- 
tude, and take the fumigation from the Vestal altar — Vesta 
will grant it ; by the gift of Vesta you will be cleansed. The 
blood of a horse 26 will be the fumigation, and the ashes of a 
calf ; and the third ingredient will be the stripped stalk of the 
hard bean. Shepherd, purify the full sheep at the beginning 
of twilight ; let the water first sprinkle them, and let the 
broom, made of twigs, sweep the ground. Let the sheep- 
folds, too, be decorated with leaves and branches fastened up, 
and let the long garland shade the ornamented doors. Let a 
blue smoke arise from the native sulphur, and let the ewe 
bleat aloud while rubbed with the brimstone as it smokes. 
Barn, too, rosemary, and the pitch tree, and the Sabine herbs, 
and let the burnt laurel crackle in the midst of the hearth. 
Let the basket of millet accompany the cakes of millet ; this 
rustic Goddess takes especial pleasure in this kind of food. 
Bring on, too, the banquet and the milk-pail, peculiarly her 
own ; and when the banquet has been removed, appease 
Pales, the inhabitant of the woods, with warm milk, and say, 
" Protect thou, alike, the cattle and those who tend the cattle, 
and let all harm fly afar, repelled from my stalls, Whether 
I have fed them on holy ground, or whether I have seated my- 
self beneath a sacred tree, or whether any ewe of mine, unknown 
to me, has browsed on the grass growing over the graves, 
or whether I have trespassed on a grove forbidden to be en- 
tered, or whether the Nymphs have been scared away by my 
gaze, or whether the God, half goat in form, or whether my 
knife has despoiled a sacred grove of its shady bough, from 
which, the bundle of leaves has been given by me to my ailing 
ewe, do thou grant pardon to my error ; nor be it a cause of 

26 The blood of a horse.'] — Ver. 733. The ashes of the calf had been 
reserved as a ' februa,' or purgative, from the Fordicidia, mentioned be- 
fore in line 639. Festus tells us that the horse, whose blood was most 
probably now used, was slain in October. ' A horse, called the " equus 
October," or " October horse," was slain in the month of October on the 
Campus Martius, in honour of Mars, the tail of which, streaming with 
blood, was carried with all possible speed to the " Regia." ' This ' Regia,' 
or ' palace/ was most probably the temple of Vesta, and the blood was 
preserved there to be used with the ashes of the calf and the bean-stalks 
on the Palilia. 



B. iv. 755—779.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 167 

evil to me, if, while the hail was pouring down, I have sheltered 
my flock within the rustic fane ; nor be it a cause of harm to 
me that I have disturbed the waters of the ponds. Pardon 
me, ye Nymphs, if at any time the motion of the hoof has 
rendered turbid the streams. Do thou, Goddess, for me, ap- 
pease the fountains and the Deities of the fountains ; do thou 
propitiate the Gods that are dispersed throughout all the 
groves. Far be it from us to look upon the Dryades, or to 
behold the bathing places of Diana, 27 or Faunus, while at mid- 
day he treads the fields. Drive disease afar ; let both men 
and flocks enjoy the blessing of health ; let, too, the dogs 
enjoy health, that watchful race. Let me not drive home my 
sheep fewer than they were in the morning ; nor let me grieve 
as I bring home the fleeces which alone I have recovered from 
the wolf. Let evil hunger be afar ; let grass and leaves be in 
abundance, and water, both to lave the limbs and to serve for 
the purpose of drinking. May it be my lot to press the full 
udders ; may my cheeses bring me money home, and may the 
twigs, as they lie far apart in the sieve, give a passage to the 
liquid whey ; may the ram prove a good tup, may his mate 
return the seed when conceived, and may there be many a 
lamb in my sheep-folds : may wool, too, be produced that 
will hurt none of my damsels, soft, and suited to even the ten- 
derest hands. Let that happen which I pray for, and may we, 
at the close of the year, offer cakes of goodly size to Pales, the 
mistress of the shepherds. With these words must the God- 
dess be propitiated : turning to the east do you repeat these 
words three times, and in the running stream thoroughly wash 
your hands. Then you may drink the snow-white milk and 
the purple must, with the milk-bowl 28 set on in the place of 

27 Bathing places of Diana.~\ — Ver. 761. It was a belief that those 
who had the misfortune to come where the Nymphs or Goddesses of the 
fountains were bathing were immediately deprived of their reason. Gower 
thus translates this and the next line, — 

* Nor nymphs, nor Cynthia, in her cistern play, 
Let us not see, nor Pan in fields all day/ 

28 With the milk bowl.] — Ver. 779. Camella. This was a wooden 
bowl used in the country. It is by some supposed to have been so called 
from the Greek Ka[j,7rTio, l to bend,' as being of a curved form, either on 
the top or on the sides. The ' sapa,' which is here rendered ' must/ as 
there is no word in English adapted to its meaning, really was the must 



168 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 779— 8G0. 

the goblet ; and afterwards with active foot fling your strong 
limbs across the burning heaps of the crackling stubble. The 
ceremonial has now been told by me; the origin of that 
custom still remains for me to mention. The great number of 
the causes alleged makes me doubtful, and delays my under- 
taking. Devouring flame is the purifier of all things, and 
melts the dross from out of the metals, therefore is it used for 
purifying the ewes with the leader of the flock. Or is it, be- 
cause there are two opposing principles in all things, fire and 
water, the discordant Deities, that our forefathers united these 
elements, and deemed it to be fitting to touch the body with the 
fire and the sprinkled water ? or is it, because in these is the 
origin of life ; the exile has lost 29 his right to enjoy these ; by 
these the bride is wedded; 30 that these two things they think 
of primary importance? For my part I hardly believe it. 
Some there are, who think that Phaeton 31 is represented, 
and the deluging waters of Deucalion. Some, too, say that 
while the shepherds were rubbing stone against stone, a spark 
suddenly leaped forth. The first indeed was lost ; but the 
second was caught on some straw. The fire of Pales has this 
for its alleged cause ; or did the piety of iEneas rather give 
rise to this custom, to whom, when conquered, the fire gave a 

or new wine, boiled down to one-third of its original quantity. This is 
Pliny's account. Varro says that it was boiled down to one-half, which 
Pliny, however, calls ' de^utum.' The mixture of milk and * sapa,' Festus 
calls ' burranica potio,' i red drink/ probably from the Greek word 7rupp6c, 
1 red/ 

29 The exile has lost.~\ — Ver. 791. Banishment, as a punishment, was 
not known to the Romans, but the same effect was produced by the inter- 
diction of fire and water; by reason whereof, for the purpose of supporting 
life, a man was obliged to leave his country. 

30 Bride is wedded.'] —Ver. 792. Fire and water were placed at the door 
by which the newly-married pair entered, and were touched by the bride 
and her husband on entering. 

31 Phaeton.'] — Ver. 793. He was the son of Apollo and Clymene ; 
being taunted with not being really the offspring of the sun, he requested 
the loan of his father's chariot for one day, which being unwillingly granted, 
he lost his control over the horses, and, to prevent a general conflagration, 
Jupiter struck him to earth with his lightnings. Deucalion was the son of 
Prometheus ; when Jupiter sent a deluge to destroy mankind, he and his 
wife Pyrrha took refuge on Mount Parnassus, or, according to Hyginus, 
on Mount iEtna, and escaping, re-peopled the earth by throwing stones 
behind them, of which, those thrown by Deucalion became men, those by 
his wife, women. 



b. iv. 800— 832.] OE, CALEKDAE OF OVID. 169 

harmless passage ? This, however, is nearer to probability, 
that when Rome was built, the Lares were ordered to be trans- 
ferred to new abodes, and that when changing their home 
they set fire to their rustic habitations and the cottage now no 
longer to be used ; and that through the flames leaped the 
cattle and the swains, as is still done upon thy natal day, 
Rome. The very occasion itself calls for an account of its 
origin from the poet. The beginning of the City we have now 
arrived at ; be thou present, great Quirinus, at the recital of 
thy deeds. Now had the brother of Numitor paid the penalty, 
and all the shepherd people were under the government of the 
two chieftains. They agreed to call together the shepherds, 
and to build a city ; a question of doubt arises, which of the 
two should lay the foundations. " There is no need/' said 
Romulus, " of any dispute. Great is the truthfulness of 
birds ; let us make trial of the omen of the birds." The thing 
proposed pleases ; the one goes among the crags of the woody 
Palatine, the other in the morning ascends the heights of the 
Aventine. Remus sees six birds in succession, his brother 
twelve ; they abide by their agreement ; and Romulus has 
the direction of the city. A suitable day is chosen, on which 
he may trace out the plan for the walls with the plough. The 
festival of Pales was at hand ; from that time the work is 
commenced upon. A trench is dug 32 down to the firm clay ; 
fruits are thrown into the bottom of it, and some earth fetched 
from the neighbouring soil. The trench is filled again with 
the earth, and, when filled, an altar is built over it ; and the 
hearth, but newly erected, is graced with the kindled fire. 
After that, pressing the tail of the plough, he traces out the 
walls with a furrow ; a white cow with a snow-white bull 
bears the yoke. These were the words of the king : " Do 
thou, Jupiter, aid me as I found this city; and Mavors 
my father and mother Vesta, and all other, ye Deities, whom 
it is a religious duty to invoke, attend; let this work of 
mine rise under your auspices. Long may be its duration, 
may its sway be that of an all-ruling land ; and under it may 

32 A trench is dug."] — Ver. 821. The ceremony here mentioned was 
performed according to the ritual prescribed by the superstitions of Etru- 
ria. This trench or pit was filled up again, and it must not be confounded 
with the furrow made by the plough. It was called * mundus/ and was 
supposed to form a passage to the infernal regions. 



1 70 THE FASTI ; [b. iv. 832—860. 

be both the rising and the setting of the day." Thus he 
prayed ; Jupiter gave an omen by a peal of thunder on the 
left hand, and from the heavens on the left the lightnings 
were hurled. Rejoicing in the omen, the citizens laid the 
foundations, and in a short space of time there stood the new 
wall. Celer urged on the work, whom Romulus himself had 
called, and had said to him, " Celer, be this the task of thy 
care, that no one pass over the walls or the furrow that has 
been made with the plough : him who dares to do so, put to 
death/' Remus, in ignorance of this, begins to scoff at walls 
so lowly, and to say, " Shall the people receive any protection 
from these ?" And without pausing, he leaps over them. 
Celer strikes him down 33 with a pick-axe for his daring ; 
streaming with blood he presses the hard ground. When 
the King is informed of this, he swallows down the tears 
that inwardly arise, and keeps his sorrow shut up with- 
in his breast. He is unwilling openly to weep, and is care- 
ful to set an example of fortitude, and " With like results," 
says he, "may the foe pass over my walls." Yet he performs 
his obsequies ; he then is no longer able to restrain his 
tears, and the affliction which he had concealed becomes mani- 
fest. He imprints the last kisses on him laid out on the bier, 
and he cries, " Farewell, my brother ! snatched from me by 
no will of mine." And then he anointed the corpse about to 
be committed to the flames ; what he did, the same did 
Faustulus and Acca with her sad locks dishevelled. Then did 
the Quirites (though not yet become entitled to that name) 
bewail the youth ; and the last fire was applied amid laments 
to the funeral pile. 34 A city arises, (who then could have 
believed this tale from any one ?) destined one day to place 
her conquering foot upon all lands. Mayst thou hold sway 
over the universe, and mayst thou ever be under the rule of 
mighty Caesar ; still continue to have more and more chiefs 

33 Strikes him down.'] — Ver. 843. Eusebius says that Remus was killed 
by Fabius, an officer under Romulus. Other writers represent that he 
was killed by Romulus himself, while some say that he was slain in a po- 
pular tumult. 

34 The funeral pile."] — Ver. 856. Remus was buried in a spot called 
Remuria, on the Palatine Hill, where he had taken his augury. It is said 
that there was a dispute among the citizens whether the city should be 
called Roma, Rem a, or Remura. The Romans were not called by the 
name of Quirites till after they had been united with the Sabines. 



B. IV. 860— 873.] OK, CALENDAR OP OTID. 171 

of that name, and oft as, in the subdued world, thou shalt stand 
erect, may all realms be lower than thy shoulders. 

Pales has been sung by me. I, too, shall now sing of the 
Vinalia: 35 but between the two festivals one day intervenes. 
Do, ye damsels of the town, worship the deity of Venus ; very 
favourable is Venus to the gains of the prostitutes. 36 Pray, 
with an offering of frankincense, for beauty and the public 
favour : pray for the arts of allurement, and for words well 
suited to merriment : offer to your mistress the pleasing spear- 
mint, with her own myrtle, and the chaplets of bulrushes 
woven with the enwreathed roses. Now it is proper that the 
temple adjoining to the Collinian gate should be resorted to. 
From the hill of Sicily 37 does it derive its name. And when 

35 The Vinalia.'] — Ver. 863. There has been considerable discussion 
among the critics whether this festival was celebrated in honour of Jupiter 
or Venus alone. The truth seems to he that it was in honour of both 
Deities, as Plutarch says (Rom. Quest. 45), that wine was on this day- 
poured forth in honour of Venus, whence the festival received the name of 
Veneralia, and among the Greeks of atypo Siena. Ovid, too, says (in lines 
898-9) that Jupiter claims it as his festival, Varro says that the Vinalia 
was celebrated in honour of Jupiter, and not Venus. But there was a 
festival called the ■ Vinalia rustica/ or ' rural Vinalia/ celebrated on the 
19th of August, and it is of that that Varro, in all probability, speaks. 
Ovid may have possibly confused the characteristics of the two festivals. 
The Vinalia were so called from ' vinum/ ' wine/ 

36 Gains of p7*ostitutes-~\ — Ver. 866. ' Professarum/ When a woman 
at Rome intended to adopt the calling of a prostitute, she professed, or 
declared, her intention of so doing before the sediles. She was then en- 
tered among the ' Togatae,' or wearers of the ' toga,' and was no longer 
allowed to wear the ' stola/ or long robe of the matrons, and became ex- 
empt from the laws against adultery. Females of patrician and equestrian 
rank were not allowed to enter in the ranks of the ' Professse,' even if they 
had the inclination to attain a distinction of so unenviable a nature. This 
method of enrolment and supervision, as business-like as it is unbecoming, 
prevails in France, Belgium, and other countries on the continent even to 
the present day. 

3 7 The hill of Sicily.]— -V er. 872. That is, Mount Eryx, from which 
Venus derived her epithet of ' Erycina/ The temple at the Collinian gate 
was dedicated a.u.c. 571. Syracuse was not taken by M. Claudius Mar- 
cellus till thirty-one years afterwards ; so that the poet is guilty of an 
anachronism in attributing the dedication to that event. But there was 
another temple to Venus Erycina, built on the Capitoline Hill by the 
direction of the Sibylline books, three years after the taking of Syracuse ; 
and it is most probably to that, that the poet intended to make allusion. 
Mount Eryx was near Drepanum, on the west coast of Sicily. On it, there 
was a splendid tern pie of Venus, the foundation of which was attributed 
to iEneas and his followers. 



1 72 THE FASTI ; [b. iv. 873—900. 

Claudius 38 gained possession of the Syracuse of Arethusa, thee 
too, Eryx, he conquered in war. Venus was transferred 
thence, according to the verse of the long-lived Sibyl, and pre- 
ferred to be worshipped in the city of her descendants. Why, 
then, they call the feast of Venus by the name of Vinalia, you 
now ask ; and why that day is sacred to Jove ? There was a 
war to decide the question whether Turnus or iEneas should be 
the son-in-law of the Latian Amata. 39 Turnus solicited the aid 
of Etruria. Mezentius was famed, and fierce when once he had 
taken up arms : mighty as he was on horseback, 40 even 
mightier was he on foot. Him, the Eutulians and Turnus en- 
deavoured to unite to their side. On the other hand, thus the 
Etrurian chieftain replied : " My bravery costs me no small 
price, I call these scars of mine to witness ; this armour, too, 
which oft have I had sprinkled with my own blood. Do 
thou who seekest my aid divide with me the next new 
wine from thy vats — no very great reward. I delay not to 
give my aid. For you it is to pay; to conquer is my part. 
How would iEneas wish that this price had been refused 
to me?" The Rutulians assented: Mezentius puts on his 
armour ; iEneas arms too, and addresses Jove in prayer : 
"The vintage of my foe has been promised to the Etru- 
rian king, Jove ! Thou shalt quaff the new wine from 
the branch of the Latian vine !" The better vow prevails; the 
huge Mezentius falls, and beats the ground with his scornful 
breast; autumn arrives, stained with the trodden grapes; 
the wine owed to him is given to Jupiter, well deserving of it. 
Hence the day is called Vinalia. Jupiter claims it as his own, 

38 Claudius.'] — Ver. 874. M. Claudius Marcellus was the first Roman 
general that defeated Hannibal. He besieged Syracuse, in Sicily, and took 
it while the inhabitants were celebrating the festival of Diana in the night 
time. Again engaging with Hannibal, he was killed in an ambuscade in 
his sixtieth year, and his fifth consulship. He was the third person 
who governed the * Spolia Opima,' having, after the first Punic war, de- 
feated the Gauls, and slain, with his own hand, their king Viridomarus, 
a.u.c. 530. 

39 The Latian Amata."] — Ver. 879. She was the wife of Latinus, king 
of Latium, and the mother of Lavinia, whom iEneas married after his con- 
quest of Turnus. This war, including the alliance of Turnus and Mezen- 
tius, the King of Etruria, and the death of them both, forms the subject 
of the last six books of the ^neid of Virgil. 

40 On horseback.] — Ver. 882. The passage, l Et vel equo magnus, vel 
pede major erat,' will either admit of the translation above given, or it 
may mean ' powerful was he in horse, and still more so in foot.' 



B. iv. 900— 916.] OR, CALENDAR OF OVID. 173 

and takes pleasure in its being in the number of his festi- 
vals. 

When April shall have but six days to remain, the season of 
the spring will be in the midst of its course ; and in vain will 
you look for the Earn of Helle, daughter of Athamas ; the 
rains now show themselves ; the Dog, too, rises. 41 On this 
day, as I was returning to Rome from Nomentum, 42 a proces- 
sion, all arrayed in white, met me in the middle of the way. 
The Flamen was going to the sacred grove of the ancient God- 
dess Rubigo, 43 about to offer in the flames the entrails of a 
dog and those of a sheep. Forthwith I approached him, that I 
might not be unacquainted with this ceremonial : and thy 
Flamen, Quirinus, gave utterance to these words : " Corrod- 
ing 44 Robigo, do thou spare the blade of the corn, and let the 
smooth top quiver on the surface of the ground. Do thou 
permit the crops, nourished by the favoring seasons of the 
heavens, to grow apace until they are ready for the sickle. 
Thy power is not harmless in its exercise. The grain which 
thou hast marked as thine own, the sorrowing husbandman 

41 The Dog, too, rises. ,] — Ver. 904. This is not the fact, as the Constel- 
lation Canis sets on the 7th of the Calends of May. One Manuscript 
reads, ' Occidit atque Canis/ * And the Dog sets,' which would be correct. 
On this day was the acronychal setting of the Ram. 

42 Nomentum.] — Ver. 905. This was a town of the Sabine country, 
to the east of Rome ; the road to it lay through the Viminal gate. 

43 Ancient Goddess Rubigo.'] — Ver. 907. Rubigo, or Robigo, was a 
Goddess, whose name signifies ' rust,' or ' mildew. Her festival was the 
* Robigalia,' here mentioned. It was celebrated by Numa, to propitiate 
her at this season in favour of the growing crops, to ensure their protec- 
tion against blight, smut, and mildew. Some writers call the Divinity, 
Robigus, making him a God. The temple was in the Via Nomentana, 
near the Porta Catularia. Gower thus renders this and the following line: — 

' A flamen into Rust's old grove did hie, 
The entrails of a dog and sheep to frie/ 

Festus says, that at the ' Porta Catularia,' or * Dog's Gate,' (through 
which the Nomentan road ran), ' they used to propitiate the Dog-star, 
which is injurious to corn, with the sacrifice of rusty-coloured or tawny 
dogs, in order that the corn might ripen free from disease.' He, perhaps 
means to say that at the setting of the Dog-star this sacrifice took place, 
as in another passage he himself tells us that the sacrifice was made to the 
God Robigus. 

44 Corroding.] — Ver. 911. * Robigo/ mildew, or properly meal-dew, 
infects corn in the shape of a red powder, of a glutinous nature, which, 
eating into it, gives it a rough, leprous appearance. 



174 THE FASTI; [b. iv. 916— 944. 

reckons in the number of the lost. Not so injurious to the 
corn are the winds or the showers ; nor is it so pallid when 
consumed by the frost, rigid as marble, as, when with his 
warmth, the sun makes hot the moistened stalks ; in such 
case, dread Goddess, is thy wrath exercised. Spare, I pray 
thee, and keep thy rough hands from the crops ; injure not 
our fields : to possess the power of inflicting injury is enough : 
seize not in thy embrace the tender crops, but rather the hard 
iron, and do thou first destroy that which has the power of 
destroying others. More to our benefit wilt thou corrode the 
swords and the hurtful weapons ; them we want not : the 
world is at peace. Let the rakes and the hardy mattocks, and 
the crooked ploughshare, the implements of the country, be 
furbished : let rust stain arms ; and let some one as he strives 
to draw his sword from the scabbard, find that it has become 
fast by the lapse of time. But hurt not the corn, and let the 
husbandman be ever enabled to pay his vows to thee, keep- 
ing thyself afar." He had spoken ; in his right hand hung a 
towel, with a loose nap, and there was a censer of frankincense, 
with a bowl of wine. The frankincense and wine he placed 
on the altars, and the vitals of a sheep ; the filty entrails, too 
(of this I was a witness), of an unclean dog . Then the 
Flamen says to me, " You ask," for, in fact, I had asked, 
" why so strange a victim is offered in sacrifice ? understand 
the reason ; there is a Dog ; 45 they call him the Icarian, and 
as his Constellation rises, the parched earth is athirst, and the 
corn is burnt up, Instead of the dog of the Constellation, this 
dog is placed on the altar, and it has no other reason than its 
name why it should thus be put to death?" 

When the sister of Titan, having left the brother of the 
Phrygian Assaracus, 46 has thrice raised 47 her beams over the 

45 There is a dog.~] — Ver. 939. Icarus, the father of Erigone, being 
slain by some intoxicated shepherds, his dog Mssra, returning home, drew 
his daughter by her robe to where her father lay ; She died of grief, and 
the dog perished of hunger. In compassion, Bacchus raised him to the 
skies, calling Icarius by the name of Bootes, Erigone the Virgin, and 
Maera, Canicula, ' the Dog-star,' or Procyon. 

46 Brother of the Phrygian Assaracus.'] — Ver. 943. The poet alludes 
to Tithonus, the husband of ^urora, but by mistake he has put Assaracus 
in the place of Priam, as Priam was the brother of Tithonus, and Assa- 
racus was their great uncle. 

47 Has thrice raised,} — Ver. 944. The Floralia began on the fourth of 
the Calends of May. 



1. IV. 944— 954.] OS, CAXE5TDAB OP OTID. 175 

boundless world, the Goddess comes, wreathed with the varie- 
gated chaplets of a thousand flowers : the stage, then, admits 
the practice of a looser merriment. The festival of Flora ends 
on the Calends of May ; then will I return to it : at this time a 
greater work engages me. 

Yesta claims a day ; on this day Vesta was received within 
a kindred threshold. 48 Thus did the just Senators appoint. 
Phoebus 49 has a part ; to Vesta was yielded a second part. 
What remains from them, Augustus himself possesses. Last 
for ever, ye laurels of the Palatium, 50 and long may the 
house stand, its front garlanded with oak. Three everlast- 
ing Gods does this one house contain. 

43 A kindred threshold.'] — Ver. 949. The Pontifex Maximus being re- 
quired to live in a public building, and Augustus filling that office, he gave 
a part of the Palatium, where he resided, to the service of the Goddess, 
and on this day, by a decree of the Senate, her sacred fire was removed 
thither. The threshold is called kindred, in the same sense in which 
we have before seen the poet, in his flattery, finding some affinity between 
Vesta, a Trojan deity, and the Julii (among whom Augustus was adopted) 
descended from ^Eneas. 

49 Phoebus.] — Ver. 951. A temple was dedicated to Apollo by Au- 
gustus, probably on this day, on the Palatine Hill. It contained a 'public 
library, where the poets used to recite their compositions, and where the 
works of the Roman authors were preserved. 

50 The Palatium.] — Ver. 953. The poet alludes to the civic crown of 
oak-leaves, which, as has been before stated, the Senate ordered to be 
suspended before the palace of Augustus between two branches of laurel, 
symbolical of the preservation of the lives of the people by Augustus, and 
of his triumphs over his enemies. 



1/6 THE FASTI ; [b. v. 1—5. 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 



CONTENTS. 



The three conflicting opinions on the origin of the name of the month of 
May, Ver. 1—110. The rising of the Constellation of the Goat, and 
its history, 111 — 128. The Lares Praestites, and the erection of their 
altar, 129—146. The temple of Bona Dea, 147—158. The wind 
Argestes, and the rising of the Hyades, with their history, 159 — 182. 
The Floral games, their origin, and the worship of the Goddess Flora, at 
Rome, with the story of the birth of Mars, 183—371. The rising of 
the Constellation of the Centaur, and the story of Charon, 379 — 414. 
The rising of the Lyre and the Scorpion, 415 — 418. The nocturnal 
celebration of the Lemuria, and the burial of Remus, 419 — 492. The 
setting of Orion, his birth and translation to heaven, 493—544. The 
temple of Mars Ultor ; the slaughter of Crassus ; and the recovery 
from the Parthians of the Roman standards, 545—598. The rising 
of the Pleiades, and the beginning of summer, 599—602. The rising 
of the Constellation of the Bull, with its origin, 603—620. Figures 
made of rushes are thrown in the river Tiber ; the arrival of Hercules 
in Latium, 621—662. The hymn to Mercury ; his festival ; the trades- 
man's prayer to him, 663—692. The Sun enters the Constellation 
Gemini ; its origin ; the combat of Castor and Pollux with Lynceus, 
693—720. The Agonalia repeated ; the setting of the Dog Star, 721— 
724. The Tubilustria, or purification of the trumpets, 725, 726. The 
four initials in the Calendar, 727, 728. The temple of Fortuna Publica, 
729—732. The setting of Bootes, and the rising of the Hyades, 
733—734. 

You inquire for what reason I suppose that its name was 
given to the month of May. My answer is, the cause has 
not been quite clearly ascertained by me. 1 Just as the tra- 
veller comes to a stand, and, in his uncertainty, knows not 
which way to go when he sees a road in every direction ; so, 

1 Ascertained by me.] — Ver. 1, 2. Gower thus translates these lines, — 

' You ask me whence this month is called May. 
I know not well what reason down to lay.* 



b. v. 5— 23.] OB, CALENDAR OF OYXD. 177 

because it is in my power to assign different reasons, I know 
not in which direction to turn, and the very abundance of 
them is a difficulty to me. Tell me, ye who hold possession 
of the springs of Aganippian Hippocrene, 2 the pleasing track 
of the steed of Medusa. 3 The Goddesses differed on the point. 
Polyhymnia 4 begins, the first of them to speak ; the others 
keep silence, and mark her sayings in their minds. After the 
state of Chaos, when first the three elements 5 were given to 
the world, and the whole universe receded into new forms, 
the earth, by its own weight, tended downwards, and drew 
after it the seas ; whereas its lightness buoyed up the eether 
to the highest position. Thou too, Sun, together with the 
stars, weighed down by no gravity, and you, ye steeds of the 
Moon, sprung forth in a direction upward. But neither did 
the earth for any length of time yield to the heaven, nor the 
rest of the stars to the sun ; there was an equality of honour 
among them. Ofttimes did any one of the lower class of the 
Deities dare to sit on the throne, which thou, Saturn, was 
wont to occupy : then any stranger God reclined side by side 
with Ocean, and Tethys was received many a time in the 
lowest place ; 6 until, at length, Honour and Reverence, with 

2 Aganippian Hippocrene."] — Ver. 7. The author seems here to confuse 
the streams of Aganippe and Hippocrene, which were distinct fountains near 
Mount Helicon, in Boeotia. Pausanias tells us that Aganippe was on the 
left of the ascent to the grove of the Muses, on Mount Helicon, and that 
Hippocrene was situate twenty stadia beyond the grove. As the poet dis- 
tinguishes them in the fifth Book of his Metamorphoses, 1. 132, we may 
presume that he here gives the epithet to the one from the other, on ac- 
count of their contiguity. 

3 Steed of Medusa.]^-Yer. 8. Pegasus ; who was fabled to have sprung 
from the blood of Medusa, when slain by Perseus. These fountains 
were said to have sprung from the ground when struck by the hoof of 
Pegasus. 

4 Polyhymnia.'] — Ver. 9. She was the muse of lyric poetry. All the 
Greek poets call her lioXv/ivia, or * Polumnia,' meaning ' she of the many 
songs.' Ovid and Horace introduce the additional letters into her name. 

5 The three elements.] — Ver. 11. In the first Book, 1. 103, and in the 
Metamorphoses, be mentions four elements. Here he looks upon aether 
and air as together constituting but one element. 

6 The lowest place. Ver. 21, 22. Gower thus renders these lines, — 

* Each noteless deity would by Ocean old 
Sit cheek by joul. Oft Tethys was controll'd.' 

Allusion is here made to the seats, or rather the couches, on which the 



1 78 THE FASTI ; [b. v. 23—48. 

mild aspect, placed their bodies on the nuptial couch, sanc- 
tioned by the laws. Hence did Majesty spring, she who rules 
the universe, and of fall growth was she on the very day on 
which she was produced. She delayed not; she took her seat 
on high in the midst of Olympus, resplendent with gold, and 
conspicuous with purple plaited robe. Together with her sit 
Modesty and Awe ; you might behold every Deity assuming 
an aspect in conformity with hers. Forthwith respect for 
high rank take possession of their minds ; dignity is now 
valued, and each is no longer occupied by self-complaisance. 
This state of things remained in heaven for many years, until, 
by the decree of the Fates, the oldest of the Gods was removed 
from, the topmost place of heaven. The Earth brought forth 
her savage offspring, huge monsters, giants, who would dare 
to attempt an entrance into the palace of Jove. A thousand 
hands she gave to them, and serpents in place of legs ; and 
she said, " Take up your arms against the great Gods." 
These were preparing to pile up the mountains to the highest 
stars, and to provoke the mighty Jupiter to battle. Jove, 
hurling his thunderbolts from the heights of heaven, over- 
turned the vast piles on those who had formed them. 7 De- 
fended by these arms the Majesty of the Gods still remains, 
and from that time abides in security. Next to Jove she sits ; 
she is his most trusty guardian, and without violence she se- 
cures the sceptre to his sway. She came on earth, too ; 
Homulus and Numa 8 worshipped her ; afterwards the others, 

ancients reclined, when taking their meals. The lowest was esteemed the 
least honourable place, 

7 Those who had formed them.] — Ver. 41, 42. The poet here refers to 
the war of the giants against the Gods of heaven. This story has been 
thought by some to have been the corruption of a tradition of the fall of 
the angels from their blessed state ; by others, it is supposed to bear refe- 
rence to the heaping pile upon pile in the construction of the tower of 
Babel. Gower thus translates these lines, — 

* He from his tower discharged his thunder straight, 
And on th' invaders' pates whelm'd that vast weight.' 

8 Romulus and Numa.] — Ver. 48. The poet means merely to assign 
as the first reason for the name of May, ' Maius/ that it was derived from 
this goddess, * Majestas/ whose name in the early days of the Latin tongue 
would be spelt and written ' Maiestas.' The beauty of the story is worthy 
of far more commendation than the ingenuity of the suggestion founded 
on it. 



b. v. 48—76.] OK, CALENDAR OF OVID. 1 79 

each in his own day. She invests fathers and mothers with 
dutiful respect ; she is the companion of boys and maidens. 
She adds dignity to the fasces when granted, and to the curule 
chair of ivory ; she triumphs, standing aloft, 9 the horses 
wreathed with garlands." Polyhymnia had ended her words ; 
Clio and Thalia, skilled at the sounding lyre, approved of 
what she said. Urania 10 took up the discourse ; all kept 
silence, and no voice, save hers, could be heard. In days of 
yore, great was the respect of the hoary head, and the wrinkles 
of old age were honoured. The youths undertook the toils of 
Mars and the undaunted warfare ; and in defence of their 
Gods, they remained at their posts. That age, which was 
feebler in strength and useless in bearing arms, often by its 
counsel assisted its country. Nor then was the Senate-house 
open to a citizen but in his latter years, and the Senate was 
the placid synonyme of old age. The old man gave ordinances 
to the people, and by definite laws the age was fixed at which 
this honour should be obtained. In those days the old man 
walked between the youths, 11 they not denying him the honour; 
and if he had but one companion, he took the inner place. 
Who in those days, in the presence of an old man, would dare 
to utter words worthy of a blush ? Old age conferred the 
right to reprimand. Romulus saw this, and he called the 
selected persons, ( Fathers.' To these was referred the govern- 
ment of the new-built city. From this circumstance I am in- 
clined to think that the elders gave their name to May, and 
consulted the honour of their old age. It is possible, too, that 
Numitor may have said, " Grant, Romulus, this month to the 
aged," and that the grandson did not refuse his grandsire. 

9 Standing aloft.'] — Ver. 52. The meaning is, that she attends the ge- 
neral in his triumph, when he stands aloft in his chariot drawn by horses 
crowned with garlands. 

10 Urania.] — Ver. 55. Clio presided over history; Thalia was the 
patroness of comedy ; and Urania was the muse of astronomy. She gives 
it as her opinion that as June was so called from the 'juniores, 7 the 
younger men, so May received its name from the * majores,' or ' maiores,' 
the aged. 

11 Between the youths.] — Ver. 67. The middle was deemed the most 
honourable place in. walking, the persons on either side being said ' claudere 
latera,' * to shut in the sides.' Maturity of years was at an early period 
considered as an indispensable qualification for office. By the law of 
Villius, the age for the Qusestorship was 31 ; for the iEdileship, 37 ; the 
Prsetorship, 40 ; and the Consulship, 43 years. 

k2 



180 THE FASTI ; [b. v. 77—101. 

June, too, is at hand, so called from the name of the Juniors, 
the successor of this month, and no small guarantee for the 
honours of the month before it." Then did Calliope, first of 
her party, 12 thus begin, her careless tresses wreathed in ivy, 
" In former times, Ocean had wedded Tethys, 13 daughter of 
Titan, who encircles the earth whichever way it extends, with 
her flowing waters. Pleione, born of this marriage, is united 
to Atlas, supporter of the skies, and becomes the mother of 
the Pleiades. Of these, Maia is said to have surpassed her 
sisters in beauty, and to have been embraced by the mighty 
Jove. She brought forth on the brow of Cyllene, clad with 
the cypress, him who with his winged feet cleaves through 
the aethereal path. Him the Arcadians, and the rapidly 
flowing Ladon, and the mighty Msenalus duly worship, a land 
believed to be more ancient 14 than the moon. Evauder, an 
exile from Arcadia, had come to the fields of Latium, and had 
brought the Gods which he had placed on board his ships. 
Here, where now is Rome, the capital of the world, there 
were then but trees and grass, and a few sheep, and a cottage 
here and there. When they had come hither, " Stop," cried 
his prophetic mother, " for this spot of country shall one day 
be the site of an empire." 15 The Nonacrian hero obeys his 
mother and prophetess, and, a stranger, he paused on a 
foreign soil. Many sacred rites indeed did she teach these 
nations, but first the ceremonial of the horned Faunus and of 
the God of the winged foot. 16 Faunus, half-goat in form, thou 

12 Calliope % first of her party,'] — Ver. 80. Calliope, or Calliopea, was 
the muse that presided over epic poetry. The mention here made, of her 
beginning, as the first of her party, may either mean that she began to 
speak, the first of those that were of the opinion expressed by her, or that 
she was the first of those who had not yet spoken, to break silence. 

13 Had wedded Tethys. ,] — Ver. 81. Ocean was the brother of Tethys, 
and they were of the Titan race. Pleione was their daughter, who married 
Atlas, son of her uncle Iapetus, and brought forth the Pleiades, on Mount 
Cylene. Maia was one of them, and she bore Mercury to Jupiter. 

14 To be more ancient.] — Ver. 90. See note to Book i. line 469, on 
the antiquity of the Arcadians. 

15 Site of an empire.] — Ver. 95, 96. Gower thus renders these lines; 

1 Here sailing, Hold, his learned mother cried ; 
For on those fields a kingdom's plat I've spied/ 

16 God of the winged foot.] — Ver. 99, 100. Gower gives this trans- 
lation of these lines ; — 

1 He taught these nations many services, 
Both horn-hoofed Pans, and winged Mercuries.' 



B. v. 101— 120.] OK, CALE]ST)AE OF OYID. 181 

art worshipped by the aproned Luperci, at the time when the 
hides cut in thongs purify the thronged ways. But to this 
month hast thou given the name of thy mother, thou inventor 
of the curved lyre, patron of the thieves. 17 And this was not 
thy first act of duty ; thou art believed to have given to the 
lyre the seven strings, as being the number of the Pleiades." 
She, too, had ended, and was applauded by the voice of her 
sisters. What am I to do ? Each part of the choir has the 
same weight with me. Let the favours of the Pierian train be 
equally bestowed on me, and let no one of them be praised 
by me more or less than her sisters. 

From Jove let my work commence. On the first night 
is to be seen the star ls that tended the cradle of Jove. The 
rainy Constellation of the Olenian she-goat 19 rises ; she 
enjoys heaven as the reward of the milk which she afforded. 
The Naiad Amalthea, noble on the Cretan Ida, is said to have 
concealed Jupiter in the woods. To her belonged a beautiful 
goat, the dam of two kids, with horns towering, and bending 
over her back, and with an udder, such as by right the nurse 

17 Patron of the thieves.'] — Ver. 103, 104. The poet gives, as the third 
origin of the title of the month, the name of Maia, the mother of Mercury, 
who (through the medium of his son Evander) called it ' Maius,' in honour 
of her. Gower thus renders these and the two following lines — 

1 But witty shirking Mercury who framed 
The harp, this month from his fair mother named. 
Nor was 't his first good deed, for he made even 
His harp-strings number with the Pleiads seven/ 

13 To be seen the star."] — Ver. 112. On the Calends of May is the 
heliacal rising of the star ' Capella,' ' the She-goat/ It is on the right 
shoulder of Heniochus, ' the Charioteer,' a Constellation on the north side 
of the Milky Way. 

19 The Olenian she-goat.~] — Ver. 113. Olenus was a town of Achaia, 
in the Peloponnesus, situated on the river Melas. There was also a towsi 
in Bceotia of that name. Lactantius tells us that Jupiter was nursed by 
Amalthea and Melissa, daughters of Melisseus, king of Crete, upon goats' 
milk and honey. Amalthea, the daughter of Olenus, is said by some 
writers, among others by Musseus, as quoted by Eratosthenes, to have 
owned the goat that is mentioned in the text, and to have given Jupiter 
to be suckled by it when he was delivered to her from Rhea by the hands 
of Themis. According to other accounts, the names of the daughters of 
Melisseus were Adrastea and Ida, who committed the infant to be suckled 
by the goat Amalthea. Who can look for uniformity in a story whose 
very existence depended on the fertility of the imagination ? Ovid does 
not say, or even seem to imply, that the name of the goat was Amalthea. 



182 THE FASTI; [b. v. 120— 140. 

of Jove ought to have. She gave milk to the God ; but 
against a tree she broke her horn, and thus was mutilated of 
half of her beauty. This the Nymph took up, and wreathed 
it with fresh gathered herbs, and then raised it, filled with 
fruits, to the mouth of Jupiter. He, when he held the 
sovereignty of heaven, and sat on the throne of his father, 
and when there was no one greater than the uncon- 
quered Jove, changed his nurse, and her fruit-bearing horn 
into Constellations, which last still retains the name of its 
owner. 

The Calends of May beheld the altar erected to the guardian 
Lares, 20 and the little statues of the Gods. These Curius 21 
vowed; but the great length of time is fast destroying them, and 
extreme age is wearing away 22 the stone. However, the cause 
of the title which is applied to them is, that they stand in 
guard over all things kept in safety under their eyes. They 
stand in guard over us, too, and they guard the fortifications 
of the city ; they are ever at hand, and are giving us their as- 
sistance. But before their feet there used to stand a dog, hewn 
out of the same stone. What was the reason of its so standing 
with the Lar ? It is, because each of them guards the house ; 
each, too, is faithful to his owner. The cross roads 23 are 

20 Guardian Lares."} — Ver. 130. On the Calends of May, public sacri- 
fice was offered to the Lares. Augustus directed them to be publicly 
worshipped twice in the year. 

21 Curius.] — Ver. 131. Manius Curius Dentatus held the consulship 
with P. Cornelius Rufinus. He enabled the Romans to withstand Pyrrhus, 
and triumphed over the Samnites. "When their ambassadors came with 
the intention of bribing him, they found him at work in his field, and in 
answer to their solicitations, he told them that he would rather be the 
ruler of the rich than be rich himself, and that invincible in the field, he 
could not be conquered by money. He was not, however, the first to 
introduce the worship of the Lares into Rome, as Varro tells us that Titus 
Tatius, the Sabine, raised a shrine to the Lares ; and Dionysius says, that 
Servius Tullius first instituted the Compitalia. 

22 Is wearing awayj] — Ver. 131. The poet says that Curius erected a 
statue to the ' Lares Prsestites,' or * Protectors/ and that it represented 
them (probably in their usual loose Gabinian garb) with a dog, the emblem 
of watchfulness, at their feet ; but he says that from length of time (the 
lapse of about 400 years) the statues had gone to decay. 

23 The cross roads.'] — Ver. 140. The Lares were, perhaps, originally 
only represented by the statues mentioned in the text, and the shrine of 
Tatius. But at the time when the poet wrote, we learn from the Scho- 
liast on Horace, Sat. book ii. Sat. 3. 1. 281, that Augustus had set up 



B v. 140—148.] OE, CALENDAR OF OYID. 183 

pleasing to the God ; pleasing, too, to the dog. 24 Both the 
Lar and the tribe of Diana scare away the thieves ; both the 
Lares and the dogs keep their watch throughout the night. 
I was inquiring after the statues of the twin-brother Gods that 
had fallen down under the power of lengthened years. A 
thousand Lares does our city contain, and the Genius of the 
chief, 25 who confided them to our care; and to the three Deities 
do the streets pay homage. Whither am I hurried away ? 
The month of August will give me a right opportunity for 
this strain, meanwhile the good Goddess 26 must be sung by me. 

Lares, or Penates, at the 'Compita/ which were places where two or more 
roads met, and that he instituted an order of priests to attend to their 
worship, taken from the Libertini, and called Augustales. This accounts 
for the 'mille/ or thousand Lares mentioned in the text below. Varro 
says that there were 265 stations for the Lares at the corners of the streets 
at Rome. Probably, this custom first suggested the idea of setting up the 
images of the Virgin and Saints at the corners of the streets, which are 
still to be seen in Catholic countries at the present day. 

24 Pleasing, too, to the dog.] — Ver. 140. Probably, because the offals of 
the neighbouring nouses were thrown there. As, in towns, the idlers of 
the human race generally select the corner of a street for the purposes of 
gossip and warming their hands in their pockets, surely the canine race 
may be allowed at a humble distance to follow their example in choosing 
such a locality, especially when for a much more legitimate and practical 
purpose — that of satisfying their hunger. Dogs were sacred to Diana, as 
the Goddess of the chase. This and the previous line are thus translated 
by Gower — 

' Both lov'd of masters, both the house defend ; 
Both god and dog the three leet ways do tend/ 

25 Genius of the chief '.] — Ver. 145. This is an allusion to the image of 
Augustus, which, by his order, was erected at the corners of the streets, 
in company with the Lares or Penates. Some have supposed that Mercury, 
the father of the Lares, is here signified, but the expression ' qui tradidit 
illos/ ' who confided them/ seems especially to point to Augustus. 

26 The good Goddess. - ] — Ver. 148. According to Macrobius, ' Bona 
Dea/ ' the good Goddess/ was Fauna, or Fatua, the daughter of Faunus, 
who was so modest that she never left the woman's apartment, and never 
set eyes on a man, or was seen by one, and her name was never mentioned 
in public. Other accounts make her the wife of Faunus, who flogged her 
to death for drunkenness, while others make her a Phrygian, the mother 
of Midas. Others take her for either Ops, Juno, Mala, Cybele, or 
Tellus. Men were forbidden to enter her temple, or to be present at her 
sacrifices, which were performed by the women in secret. It was her rites 
that Clodius profaned by his presence in disguise, when enamoured of 
Pompeia, the second wife of Julius Caesar, who was one of the priestesses 
of the Goddess. 



184 THE FASTI; [b. v. 149— 165. 

There is a natural rock ; the reality of the fact gave its name 
to the place. They call it " The Crags ;" it is a large part 
of the hill. On this spot 27 had Remus stood, to no pur- 
pose, at the time when you, ye birds of the Palatine, gave 
the commencing sovereignty to his brother. There did the 
Senators erect, on the gently sloping hill, the temple that utterly 
abhors the gaze of males. The heiress of the ancient name of 
the Clausi 28 dedicated this ; one who never submitted her vir- 
gin person to the embrace of man. Livia restored it, that she 
might not fail to imitate her husband, and that in every point 
she might follow in his footsteps. 

When the next dawn, the daughter of Hyperion, raises on 
the steeds of the morning her rosy light, the stars being driven 
away, the cold north-western wind 29 will gently bend the 
tops of the ears of corn, and the white canvass will be set 
from the Calabrian waves ; and soon as the darkening 
twilight ushers in the night, no one of all the train of the 
Hyades 30 lies concealed. The face of the Bull glitters, radiant 

27 On this spot.'] — Ver. 150. That is, the ATentine Hill, or Mount; 
on which was located the temple of ' Bona Dea.' which the poet proceeds 
to mention. 

28 Name of the Clausi.]— Ver. 155. This was probably Claudia Quinta. 
mentioned in the fourth book, 1. 305 ; and the more so, as the poet does 
not think it necessary here to mention her name, which, if he had not al- 
ready given it, he would most probably now have done. The temple of 
Bona Dea was built by this lady, and was restored by Livia, the wife of 
Augustus. 

25 North-western wind.] — Ver. 161. Argestes. This wind was fabled 
to be the son of Aurora, and was called by the Greeks ' Iapyx.' It was 
a favourable wind for persons sailing from Calabria, in the south of Italy, 
for Greece ; the passage to which country was usually taken from Brundi- 
sium, a city on the Calabrian coast. 

30 The Hyades.] — Ver. 164. The poet says that the Hyades rise acro- 
nychally on the sixth of the Nones of May ; whereas Pliny (Nat. Hist. 
Book xviii. c. 66) says that they rise cosmically on that day. Some au- 
thorities, differing from Ovid, say that these stars were originally Nymphs 
of Dodona in Epirus, and the nurses of Bacchus ; and that, dreading the 
resentment of Juno, they were translated by Jupiter to the skies. Three 
derivations of this name are mentioned by ancient writers ; the first from veiv, 
pronounced by the Latins, hyein, ' to rain ;' the second, from the Greek 
letter ^r, l upsilon/ which the Constellation was thought to resemble in 
figure ; and the third, from vg, ' a pig/ for some fanciful reason unknown to 
us. Cicero says that his own countrymen, supposing this to have been the 
origin of the name, thence called the Constellation by the name of * Suculae/ 
* the little pigs,' derived from the Latin word ' sus,' ' a pig :' he adopts 
the first derivation. On the Nature of the Gods, Book ii. c. 43. 



b. v. 155— 195.] OK, CALENDAR OF OYID. 185 

with seven flaming stars, which the Grecian mariner calls 
Hyades, from rain. Some think that they nursed Bacchus ; 
some have supposed that they were the granddaughters of 
Tethys and of old Ocean. Not as yet was Atlas standing, bear- 
ing on his shoulders the burden of Olympus, when Hyas 
was born, distinguished for his beauty. Him and the Nymphs, 
did iEthra, daughter of Ocean, bring forth with timely 
throes ; but Hyas was the elder born. While the down of 
his cheek is still young, with the net beset with variegated 
feathers, 31 he scares the timid deer ; and the hare proves to 
him an abundant prey. But when his manliness ripened with 
his years, he dared to attack even the wild boars and the 
shaggy beasts of prey ; and now while he was seeking the 
lair and the cubs of a lioness that had just brought forth, he 
himself became the bloodstained prey of the Libyan wild beast. 
His mother and his sorrowing sisters bewailed Hyas ; Atlas 
too, destined to support with his neck the burden of the skies, 
bewailed him. Yet were both of the parents surpassed by the 
affection of the sisters ; that affection raised them to the sky ; 
Hyas gave them their name. 

" Come hither, thou mother of the flowers, to be honoured by 
mirthful sports ; in a former month I had deferred the recital of 
what related to thee. In April thou dost begin ; thou passest on 
to the days of May. The one month at its departure receives thee ; 
the other as it comes. Since the limits of the two months are 
thine, and make place for thee, either this one or that is suitable 
for thy praises. In this month, end the games of the Circus, 32 
and the award of the prizes with the applause of the theatres : 
with this performance of the Circus let my strain proceed. 
Teach me thyself who thou art. The opinions of men are 
fallible ; thou wilt be the best instructor as to thine own 
name. 5 ' Thus I spoke ; thus replied the Goddess to my re- 
quest ; while she was speaking, she breathed forth the vernal 
roses from her mouth. " I, who now am called Flora, was 

31 Variegated feathers."] — Ver. 173. ' Formidine/ The ' formido' was 
a toil, or net, covered with feathers of different colours, for the purpose of 
scaring birds and wild beasts. According to some authors, Hyas met his 
death by the sting of an adder. 

32 The Circus.'] — Ver. 189. This was the Circus of Flora, in the sixth 
region of the city. The Floralia commenced on the 28th of April, and 
finished on the 3rd of May. 



186 THE FASTI; [b. v. 195— 217. 

once called Chloris. 33 The Greek spelling of my name became 
corrupted by the Latin pronunciation. I was Chloris, a 
Nymph of the blessed plains, where, as thou hast heard, was 
formerly the abode of the blessed men. How great was my 
beauty it is irksome to one of my modesty to tell ; but it pro- 
cured a God as a son-in-law for my mother. 'Twas spring ; I 
was roaming about : Zephyrus beheld me. I walked on ; he 
followed me : Ified ; he proved the stronger. Boreas 34 too had 
given to his brother a Ml precedent for violence, when he 
dared to bear off his prize from the house of Erectheus. Yet 
he made amends for his violence by giving me the name of 
wife, and in my married state I have no ground for complaint. 
I enjoy perpetual spring ; to me the year is always most 
beauteous ; the tree always bears its foliage ; the earth its 
herbage. A fruitful garden in the fields of my dowry is 
mine ; the breeze cherishes it ; it is irrigated by a spring of 
trickling water. This my husband has filled with flowers of 
the choicest kinds, and he says, e Do thou, Goddess, rule the 
empire of the flowers.' Ofttimes have I desired to reckon the 
tints as they were arranged, and I could not : their multitude 
exceeded all number. When first the dewy rime has been 
dashed from the leaves, and the variegated flowers warm in the 
beams of the sun, the Seasons 35 arrayed in painted robes as- 

33 Chloris.'] — Ver. 194. This name is derived from the Greek adjective 
X^copoQ, ' green/ and similarly, the word Flora is from ' flores,' ' flowers.' 
Though they are kindred terms, it could only arise from the exuberance 
of the poet's fancy to imagine that one word was a corruption of the other. 
There is little doubt that the story of Chloris, now lost to us, was a fiction 
of purely Greek origin ; and that Flora was essentially an Italian deity. She 
was worshipped by the Sabines, and Titus Tatius erected a temple to her 
in Rome. Lactantius and Plutarch tell a very business-like and matter-of- 
fact story that she was a courtezan, who left her wealth to the Roman 
people, on the condition that her birth-day should be always celebrated by 
a festival, to be called the * Floralia,' and that the Senate, out of shame, 
took upon themselves to feign that she was the Goddess of Flowers. 

34 Boreas.] — Ver. 203. This was the name of the north wind. He 
was fabled to have carried off Orithyia, the daughter of Erectheus, as she 
was dancing on the banks of the Ilissus. Mr. Keightley justly observes, 
that the name of Orithyia, signifying in Greek ' mountain rusher,' was a 
very good name for the spouse of the north wind. 

35 The Seasons.] — Ver. 217. They were the daughters of Jupiter and 
Themis, and were represented in embroidered robes. The Charites, or 
Graces, were also the children of Jupiter, and three in number, Aglaia, 
Thalia, and Euphrosyne. Some say that they were the daughters of Bac- 



R. v. 217— 235.1 OK, CALEOTAB OF OVID. 187 

senible, and gather my presents into their light baskets. 
Forthwith, to them are added the Graces, and they plait the 
chaplets, and the garlands, destined to bind their heavenly 
locks. I was the first to spread the new seed throughout the 
unlimited nations ; before then the earth was of but one tint. 
I was the first to create the flower of the Therapnsean 36 blood, 
and the complaint still remains that is written on its leaf. 
Thou too, Narcissus, 37 hast a name throughout the cultivated 
gardens — unhappy in thy fate, that thou didst not in thy own 
person form two individuals ! Why should I tell of Crocus 38 
or Attis, or the son of Cinyras, 39 from whose blood by my art 
their fame arises in the shape of a flower ? Mars, 40 too, if thou 
art ignorant of the fact, was born by my art : that Jove may 
still remain in ignorance of it is my constant prayer. The 
sacred Juno, when, without a mother, Minerva was born, was 
grieved that Jupiter had not needed her aid. She was on her 
way, that she might complain to Ocean of the deeds of her 
husband ; wearied with her toil, she stopped at my doors. 41 
Soon as I saw her, I said, ' Daughter of Saturn, what has 

chus and Venus ; very unlikely parties, one would think, to be the full 
sisters of Priapus. In early days they were represented clothed, in later 
times naked. The Spartans reckoned but two, Clita and Phoena. 

36 Therapnccan.] — Ver. 223. Therapnse was a town of Laconia. 
Hyacinthus was born at Amyclse, in its vicinity. Reference has been 
made to him in a former page. 

37 Narcissus.'] — Ver. 225. He was the son of the river Cephisus, and 
the nymph Liriope. "While he was at a fountain he became enamoured 
of his own person, and pined away into the flower that still bears his 
name. 

38 Crocus.] — Ver. 227. He was enamoured of the nymph Smilax, and 
pined away into the flower that bears his name, while the Nymph was 
converted into a yew tree. Attis has been already mentioned (see book 
ii. 1. 223.) Arnobius says that the violet sprang from his blood. 

39 The son of Cinyras.] — Ver. 227. Adonis was the son of Cinyras, 
king of Cyprus, by his daughter Myrrha, or, according to others, he was 
the son of Thoas and Myrrha. Hesiod makes him the son of Phoenix 
and Alphesibsea. Being killed by a wild boar, he was changed by 
Venus into an anemone. He was worshipped in Syria under the name 
of Thammuz, to which worship allusion is several times made in the writings 
of the prophets in the Old Testament. 

40 Mars.] — Ver. 229. Ovid is the only ancient writer that narrates this 
story of the birth of Mars by the aid of Flora. 

41 Stopped at my doors.] — Ver. 233-4. Gower thus renders these lines — 

Comes to old Ocean for to make her mone, 
And at our gate quite tired sits her down/ 



188 THE FASTI ; [b. v. 235—257. 

brought thee here?' She tells me the place to which she is 
going : she adds, too, the reason. I consoled her with words 
of friendship. c My care,' said she, ' cannot be alleviated 
by words. If Jove has become a father, having neglected 
the instrumentality of his wife, and if he in his own person 
possesses the title of both husband and ivife, why should I 
despair of becoming a mother without the aid of my husband, 
and, keeping myself chaste, of bringing forth, untouched by 
any man ? All the drugs in the wide world I will try. I will 
search both the seas and the abysses of Tartarus.' 42 She was in 
the middle of her speech: 43 I appeared to have the look of 
one in consideration. ( Thou seemest, Nymph,' she said, 
c to have some influence in such matters.' Thrice did I in- 
tend to promise her my assistance — thrice was my tongue 
stayed. The wrath of Supreme Jove was the cause of my 
alarm. c Give me, I pray, thy aid,' she said ; f my adviser 
shall not be disclosed : ' and she then calls to witness the 
Deity of the Stygian stream. ' What thou seekest,' said I, 
' a flower sent to me from the Olenian fields will give to thee ; 
the one in my garden is the only plant. He who made me 
a present of it said, ' Touch, with this, a sterile cow ; she 
shall become a dam.' I touched one ; forthwith she did become 
a dam. Straightway, with my thumb, I plucked the flower as 
it adhered to the stem; she was touched by me ; and when 
touched, she conceived in her womb. And now, pregnant, she 
enters Thrace and the regions on the left of the Propontis. 44 

42 Abysses of Tartarus."] — Ver. 243-4. Gower renders these lines in 
the following quaint manner ; — 

1 All charms and mixtures, both in land and seas, 
I'll search and trie, and grope the Stygian lees/ 

43 She was in the middle of her speech."] — Ver. 245. l Vox erat in 
cursu.'* Literally, ' her voice was in the course.' It is absolutely the fact, 
that one critic takes the meaning of this to be, ' Juno spoke as she ran/ 
Well may Mr. Keightley express his astonishment. In such case we must 
suppose Flora to be 'keeping pace' with her, to listen to her story; which 
Juno could not, in civility, have permitted, especially as she was a very 
punctilious deity. 

44 Propontis.] — Ver. 257. This sea, which is now called the Sea of 
Marmora, was so called from being Trpb, 'before,' the Euxine, or Black 
Sea. It was a part of the eastern boundary of Thrace, where Mars was 
especially venerated, on account of the hardy and warlike character of the 
people. 



b. v. 25S— 282.] OK, CALENDAR OF OYID. 189 

She gains her wish, and Mars is born. He, mindful that by 
means of me he had received his birth, said, ' Do thou occupy 
a place, too, in the city of Romulus.' Perhaps thou mayst 
imagine that my sway is only over the delicate chaplets ; but 
my divine power extends to the fields as ivell. If the corn- 
fields have blossomed well, then will the threshing floor be 
rich ; if the vineyards have blossomed well, there will be 
plenteous wine ; if the olives have blossomed well, most shining 
with ozYwill the year prove ; the pomes as well enjoy the in- 
crease of this season. When the blossom has once been 
injured, the vetches and the beans perish, and thy lentiles, 
Nile, river that flowest from afar. The wine, too, carefully 
stowed away in the spacious cellars, flowers, 45 and the scum 
covers the surface of the casks, Honey, too, is my province. 
I invite the winged insects that will yield the honey, to the 
violet, the cytisus, and the hoary thyme. The same thing do 
I when the spirits abound in the years of youth, and the 
body is now in strength." As she said these things I re- 
garded her with silent astonishment. But she said, " Thou 
hast the privilege of learning, if there be any thing that thou 
seekest to know." " Tell me, Goddess," I answered, " what 
was the origin of the games." Scarcely had I fully con- 
cluded, when she answered me. The other appliances cf 
luxury were not yet in full operation : the man who was rich 
possessed either cattle or a wide tract of land. From this 
circumstance, too, it was that the rich man was called 
" locuples," 46 and that money had the name of (( pecunia." 
But now at length each was acquiring wealth by forbidden 

45 In the cellars flowers."] — Ver. 270. The poet is considered to be going 
rather too far here, when he places the scum of wine under the care of 
Vesta, because, when it rises, the wine is said 'florere,' Ho flower,' by virtue 
of a figurative adaptation of the word. The term is generally supposed to 
apply merely to the scum or effervescence of new wine. Might it not possibly 
apply to the mouldiness that would supervene upon that scum if left long 
standing, and which we know to be a vegetable subtance, or 'lichen?' 

46 Was called 'locuples*] — Ver. 281. That is to say, the man who 
had much land was 'loci plenus,' 'full of land.' 'Pecunia,' 'money,' ac- 
cording to the poet, derives its name from 'pecus, 'cattle,' because origi- 
nally the greatest part of a person's wealth consisted of cattle and flocks ; 
as in those times cattle formed the most convenient medium of exchange, 
money, as its substitute, received its appellation from it. The firstmoney 
that was used had figures of cattle stamped upon it ; and, according to 
some, it was made out of the hides of cattle in a tanned state. 



190 THE FASTI ; [b. v. 282—300. 

means. It had become a custom to depasture the lands of 
the people ; 47 and long was that permitted, and there was no 
penalty for so doing. The people kept their public places in 
the guardianship of no one : and to pasture on his own private 
property was deemed the act of a simpleton. Such irregulari- 
ties as these were reported to the iEdiies, the Publicii : 48 
spirit before was wanting in these men, The people took 
cognizance of the matter : the offenders suffered the penalty 
of a fine ; to its guardians the care of the public was a theme 
of praise. In part, the price was granted to me ; and with 
great applause did the JEdiles, victorious in the contest, insti- 
tute new games. With the other part they made, by contract, 
the carriage-road, 49 which then was a steep precipice ; now 
it is a useful way, and they style it the Publician. I had 
before supposed that annual spectacles were instituted ; she 
told me, not so, and added to her expressions these words : 
" Honour influences us too : in festivals and altars do we take 
pleasure, and we that inhabit the heavens are an ambitious 
set. Often, by his sin, has some mortal made the Gods en- 
raged, and the victim has been a soothing sacrifice for his 

47 The lands of the people.'] — Ver. 283. These lands were called 
'pascua,' and a rent was paid for the liberty of grazing thereon, which 
went into the public funds, and was called 'scriptura,' as Mr. Thynne 
suggests, probably as being paid for the permission to enter one's name 
in the roll of those admitted to the advantage. The poet tells us that 
this payment was evaded to a great extent, till the iEdiles put a stop to 
the practice, who, then, no longer allowed interest or favour to screen 
those guilty of these malpractices. 

48 The Publicii.'] — Ver. 288. These were Lucius and Marcius Publicius 
Malleolus, who were iEdiles of the people, a.u.c. 513. By the Licinian 
law no one person was allowed to stint more than 100 head of cattle or 
500 sheep on the public pastures. Besides instituting the Floral games, 
a temple, which is not mentioned by the poet, was built in honour of 
Flora, out of the fines ; this was afterwards repaired by Tiberius, as we 
learn from Tacitus, Annals, Book ii. c. 49. 

49 The carriage road.] — Ver. 293. i Locant,' ' they let out to contract/ 
Varro and Festus confirm this account. Festus says, * they made a road so 
that carriages could come up the Aventine hill to Velia :' Velia being one 
part, perhaps the highest, of the hill. Gower thus renders the four lines 
beginning from line 283, — 

' The custom was to feed the people's commons 
Without controlment ? they long time were no man's. 
Some law the people did their commons keep, 
He was a churl that by himself fed sheep/ 



b. v. 300— 324.] OR, CALENDAR OF OVID. 191 

crimes. Oftthnes have I seen Jove, 50 when he was just 
about to hurl his thunderbolts, withhold his hand on the 
offering of some frankincense. But if we are slighted, the 
wrong is atoned for with weighty penalties, and our wrath 
proceeds beyond moderate bounds. Look at the grandson of 
Thestius ; 51 with flames, at a far distance, did he burn : the 
reason was, because the altar of Diana was without its fire. 
Look at the descendant of Tantalus ; 52 the same Goddess with- 
held from him the power of setting sail. A Virgin indeed she 
is, and yet twice has she avenged her altars when subjected to 
a slight. Hapless Hippolytus, thou couldst wish that thou 
hadst paid homage to Dione, when thou wast torn in pieces by 
thy frightened steeds. 'Twere a tedious task to recount the 
slights that have been chastised by calamity. Me, too, the 
Roman fathers neglected. What could I do? By what 
means could I give symptoms of my displeasure? What 
penalty could I inflict for this my disgrace? My wonted 
duties were forgotten by me in my sorrow. No longer I 
guarded the fields : no longer was the fruitful garden valued 
by me. The lilies faded ; you might see the violets parched ; 
and the filaments of the ruddy crocus become flaccid. Many 
a time did Zephyrus say to me, ' Do not, thyself, destroy thy 
own dowry.' Worthless to me was my dowry. The olive 
trees were in bloom ; the wanton blasts nipped them. The 
corn-fields were in blossom ; the corn was injured by hail- 
storms. The vine as yet gives a ground for hope ; the heaven 
blackens in the quarter of the south wind, and the leaves are 

50 Have I seen Jove.~\ — Ver. 300-1. Gower's version of these lines 
runs thus, — 

i Oft have I seen Jove hurling his fire storm, 
At sight of incense hold his threat'ning arm/ 

51 Grandson of Thestius.] — Ver. 305. Meleager, son of iEneus and 
Althea, daughter of Thestius. His mother, on his birth, was informed 
by the Fates that he would live till a log of wood, then burning on the 
fire, was consumed. On this, she removed it, and carefully preserved it. 
Meleager killed the Calydonian boar sent by Diana in revenge for the 
neglect of her worship ; and he gave its skin to Atalanta, who had first 
wounded it. His mother's brothers attempting to deprive her of it, Meleager 
slew them ; on which, in revenge, his mother threw the log on the fire, 
and he expired, when the flames, thus at a distance from him, had burnt 
out. Althea killed herself through grief. 

53 Descendant of Tantalus.'] — Ver, 307. Agamemnon ; descended from 
Tantalus, through his son, Pelops. See Book i. 1. 387. 



192 THE FASTI ; [b. v. 324—343. 

stripped off by the sudden shower. I did not wish all this to 
happen, for I am not cruel in my wrath ; but I took no care 
to repel the evil. The Senators assembled; 53 and if the year 
should blossom well, they vowed to my Godhead an annual 
festival. I assented to the vow. Lsenas, the Consul, with his 
colleague Posthumius, in discharge of their promise, insti- 
tuted in my honour these games/' I was preparing to in- 
quire why there was in these games a greater license, 54 and 
more freedom in merriment. But it occurred to me that she 
was no austere Deity, and that she had functions suited for 
the enjoyment of pleasure. Her temples are entirely surrounded 
with the wreaths of flowers 55 sewed together, and the gorgeous 
board is concealed by the roses showered down upon it. The 
drunken reveller dances with his hair wreathed with the bark 
of the linden-tree, and scarcely knowing what he does, is 
whirled along by the influence of the wine. In his drunken 
fit, the lover sings at the cruel threshold of his beauteous mis- 
tress ; his perfumed locks support the delicate garlands. No 
grave matters are transacted with a brow enriched with the 
garland : and limpid water is not the beverage of those 
wreathed with flowers. As long as thou wast mixed, Ach- 

53 The Senators assembled.'] — Ver. 327. In the consulship of L. Post- 
humius Albinus and M. Popilius Lamas, a.u.c. 580, directions were given 
that the Floral games should be celebrated annually. 

54 A greater license.'] — Ver. 331. The greatest license was permitted 
at these games ; and to the sound of music, lewd women danced in a state 
of nudity. The story is told, that when Cato of Utica once appeared at 
the games, the spectators would not call on the dancers to strip, being 
overawed by his presence, on which he retired, that he might not interfere 
with their amusement, and was loudly applauded for so doing. This would 
appear very like an encouragement of the practice on his part ; and he, 
probably, did not think of the maxim, as good in ethics as it is in law, — 
1 Qui facit per alium, facit per se.' 

55 Wreaths of flowers.] — Ver. 335. The poet here describes, not the 
Floral games, but the gaiety of life that the Goddess was wont to promote. 
This and the next seven hues are thus translated by Gower — 

1 Brows are embroidered with spruce garlands sew'd, 
And tables cover'd with fresh roses strew' d. 
The bouzy guest, deck'd with a film flower crown, 
In drunken garb there dances up and down : 
And's head with ovl and flow'rs and wine well-lin'd, 
He catches sings at's sweet-heart's door unkind. 
Crown'd temples meddle with no serious matter ; 
Nor are flow'rs us'd in drinking of fair water.' 



B. V. 343—363.] OK, CALENDAR OF OYID. 193 

loiis, 56 with the juice of no clusters, there was no pleasure in 
assuming the rose. Bacchus loves the flowers ; you may 
know that the garland is pleasing to Bacchus, from the Con- 
stellation of Ariadne. A merry stage becomes this Goddess ; 
she is not, believe me, she is not to be reckoned in the num- 
ber of the tragic Goddesses*. 57 And why the multitude of the 
courtezans throng to these games, the reason, when sought for, 
is not difficult to be ascertained. She is none of the morose 
ones, nor is she one of the great boasters : she wishes that 
her festival should be open to the Plebeian multitude. She 
teaches us, too, to make use of the beauty of our youth, while 
it is still in bloom ; and that the thorn is slighted when the 
roses have faded. But why, whereas white garments are worn 
on the festival of Ceres, is this Goddess gay with habits of 
various colours ? Is it because the harvest grows white with 
its ripened ears, but every hue and tint is to be found in 
flowers ?" She nodded her assent, and, as she shook her hair, 
the flowers fell, just as the rose, when dropped, is wont to fall 58 
on the festive board. There still remained the torches, 59 the 
origin of which was concealed from me ; when thus she re- 
moved my uncertainty, " It is either because the fields are 

56 Thou wast mioct, Acheloiis.] — Ver. 343. It seems to have been a 
general notion with the Latin poets that the waters of the Acheloiis were 
the first that were used for the purpose of tempering wine. Virgil (Georgics, 
Book i. 1. 9) speaks of mixing the waters of the Acheloiis with the juice 
of the newly-discovered grape. Hyginus, Fable 274, tells us that Cerasns, 
the iEtolian, was one of the first who taught men to mix water with their 
wine, and recommended them to use the waters of the river Acheloiis for 
that purpose. 

57 Tragic Goddesses,] — Ver. 348. * Cothurnatas. , Literally, ' buskined 
Goddesses/ The ' cothurnus ' was a high shoe or buskin, worn by actors 
in tragedy, with the view of thereby rendering the figure more stately and 
elevated. Its introduction on the stage is sometimes ascribed to Sophocles, 
but more generally to iEschylus. This appellation was often given to 
Diana and Minerva. 

58 Is wont to fall.']— Ver. 360. Allusion is here made to the custom at 
the feasts of the ancients of showering down flowers, and especially roses, 
from the ceiling. At their potations, garlands of roses were often hung 
from the ceiling ; from this circumstance, whatever secrets were imparted 
in the freedom of postprandial conversation, were said to be * sub rosa/ 
'under the rose/ and it was considered a breach of good faith and of po- 
liteness to divulge anything that might transpire upon such occasions. 

59 The torches.]— Ver. 361. Torches were used at the Floralia, as the 
rites were protracted to a verv late hour of the might. 



194 THE EASTI; [b. v. 363—388. 

resplendent with purple flowers, that lights appear to be 
becoming to my festival, or because neither the flower nor 
flame is of a dull colour, and the brightness of each attracts 
our attention, or because the licence of the night is suited to 
my pleasures. The third reason is derived from fact. "There 
is still a little matter," I said, " about which it remains for 
me to inquire, if I may be allowed." She said, " I permit 
thee." " Why, in honour of thee, are the feeble roes and 
the timid hares 60 enclosed in the net in place of the Libyan 
lionesses ?" She replied that the woods were not her domain, 
but the gardens and the fields not to be approached by the 
savage beast of prey. She had concluded her speech ; and she 
vanished into empty air. A sweet perfume remained ; you 
might know that she was a Goddess. That the song of Naso 
may flourish throughout all times, diffuse, I pray, Goddess, 
thy gifts in my breast. 

On the night before the fourth from the Calends, shall 
Chiron 61 raise his star, half-man, and half-formed of the 
body of a yellow steed. Pelion is a mountain of Haemonia, 
facing the south ; its summit is green with pine ; the oak 
covers the other part The son of Phillyra inhabited it. The 
cave is still extant in the ancient rock which they say was the 
abode of the worthy old man. He is believed to have occu- 
pied with the strains of the lyre those hands that were destined 
in future times to effect the death of Hector. Alcides had 
come, a part of his task performed, and now almost the last 62 

60 The timid hares.'] — Ver. 372. The animals that were generally 
hunted in the Circus were of the fiercer kind ; but at the Floralia, deer 
and hares were brought in nets, and let loose then for the purpose of 
chasing them. Very probably, one reason for then hunting the hare was, 
the fact that these animals are very destructive to flowers, and have an es- 
pecial liking for pinks and carnations. 

61 Chiron.]— Ver. 379. On the 5th of the Nones of May, the Centaur 
rises. Chiron was the son of Saturn and Phillyra, and was celebrated for 
his skill in medicines. He was a Centaur, half-man and half-herse, and 
was the great grandfather of Achilles, whom he educated. He was also 
said to have nursed ^Esculapius. Hercules conquered Troy in the reign 
of King Laomedon; Achilles slew Hector, its bulwark, in the Trojan 
war. Ovid seems to have derived this story from Homer's Iliad, the Ar- 
gonautic poem of Orpheus and Callimachus. 

62 Almost the last.] — Ver. 388. Apollodorus says, that so far from its 
being at the time of almost the last of the labours of Hercules, this acci- 
dent happened to Chiron when he was engaged on his fourth task. Pliny 



B. v. 388—421.] OR, CALENDAR OP OYID. 195 

of the labours enjoined on him, remained for the hero. You 
might see the two destined for the destruction of Troy, by 
chance, standing together. On the one side was the boy, the 
son of iEacus ; on the other side was the son of Jove. The 
hero, the son of Phillyra, receives the youth with hospitality, 
and asks him the cause of his coming ; the other one informs 
him. Meanwhile he examines his club and the spoil of the 
lion, and he says, " Hero worthy of these arms, and arms 
worthy of the hero !" Nor could the hands of Achilles refrain 
from daring to touch the hide bristling with its shaggy hair. 
While the old man is handling the arrows, tipped with poison, 
one falls, and the barb is fixed in his left foot. Chiron groans 
aloud, and draws the steel from the wound ; Alcides weeps, 
and so does the Hsemonian boy. Yet he himself prepares the 
herbs collected on the hills of Pagasee, and soothes the wounds 
with various remedies. The eating venom was too powerful 
for a remedy, and the pestilence was entirely absorbed in his 
bones and throughout his whole body. The blood of the 
Hydra of Lerna mingling with the blood of the Centaur gave no 
time for aid. Achilles stood bedewed with tears, as though 
before his father ; thus was Pelias to be mourned had he 
then died. Often did he chafe the hands of the patient 
with his affectionate hands : the teacher then received the ad- 
vantages of that' disposition of which he had had the train- 
ing, Often did he kiss him ; often, too, did he say to him as he 
lay, "Live on, I pray; leave me not, my dear father!" The 
ninth day had come, when thou, most righteous Chiron, hadst 
thy body girt with twice seven stars. 

Him the curving Lyre 63 would desire to follow ; but not yet 
is the path in readiness ; the third night will be a suitable 
time. At the hour, when on the morrow, we say, that now the 
Nones are dawning, the Scorpion shall be marked in the sky 
from its middle. 

When thrice from this time the Star of the Evening shall 
have raised his beauteous disk, and thrice the conquered stars 
shall have made way for the Sun, then will be the rites of your 

(Nat. Hist, book xxv. c. 6) says that Chiron recovered by the application 
of the herb centaury, which received its appellation from the Centaur. 

63 The curving Lyre.~\— Ver. 415. On the 3d of the Nones of May, the 
Lyre rises acronychally. On the day before the Nones, half of the Scorpion 
sets cosmically. 

o 2 



196 THE FASTI; [b. v. 421—437. 

ancient ceremonial, feast of the Lemures ; this feast will pre- 
sent the offerings to the silent shades. 64 Their year was 
shorter, and not as yet had they been taught to employ, for 
purification, the affectionate Februa, and not yet wast thou the 
leader of the months, Janus ! thou of the double form. Yet 
already did they offer their peculiar gifts to the ashes of the 
dead, and the grandson performed the rites at the tomb of his 
buried grandsire. The month was called Maius, from the 
name of the " majores," [their ancestors,] which even now re- 
tains a part of the ancient custom. When midnight now is 
come, and affords silence for sleep, and ye dogs, and birds 
with your various tints, are still ; at that hour rises the person 
who bears in mind the ancieut ceremonial, and stands in awe 
of the Gods : his two feet have no sandals 65 on them, and he 
makes a noise with his fingers clasped in each other with his 
thumb in the middle, 66 for fear lest the aerial spectre should 
meet him if silent. After he has washed his hands clean in 
the water of the spring, he turns round, and first he takes up 
the black beans ; 67 with his face turned away, he flings them ; 

64 The silent shades.]— Ver. 422. * Tacitis Manibus.' Literally, ' the 
silent Manes.' As Mr. Keightley observes, the Manes were, according to 
this description of them, what we term, disturbed spirits. 

65 Have no sandals.'] — Ver. 432. On performing magical incantations, 
it was always deemed necessary to have the feet bare for that purpose. 

65 His thumb in the middle.] — Ver. 433. There is some difficulty in 
understanding from the context how the sound here described was to be 
produced. Neapolis thinks it means merely a snapping of the thumb and 
finger. Mr. Thynne and Mr. Stanford seem to be of the same opinion. 
Mr. Keightley thinks that it may have been done by locking the fingers 
in one another, whereby the thumbs were joined in the middle, and then 
making a noise by bringing the hands smartly together. If 'medius pol- 
lex ' here means the middle finger, a signification which Ovid gives else- 
where to 'pollex,' then it may mean that he closes the fingers in the fist 
of the left hand, and makes a snapping noise on them thus joined, with the 
middle finger of the right, which is very easily done, by smartly striking 
the space between two adjoining fingers. 

6 ' The black bea?is.] — Ver. 431 — 6. Gower gives the following trans- 
lation of these lines — 

* The rite-rememb'ring, ghost-abhorring sunne, 
Arises gently, and no shoes puts on ; 
Then points with his clos'd fingers, and his thumb 
Put in the midst, lest ghosts should near him come ; 
Then in spring-water he his hands doth cleanse, 
But first doth roll about his mouth blue beans.' 
We are told by Festus, that the bean was particularly used in the rites 



B. v. 437—461.] OK, CALE1ST)AE OF OYID. 197 

but while he flings them, he says " I offer these ; with these 
beans do I ransom myself and mine." Nine times does he say 
this, and looks not behind him. 68 The ghost is believed to 
gather them, and to follow behind if no one is looking on. A 
second time he touches the water and tinkles the copper of 
Temesa, 69 and begs the ghost to leave his house. When nine 
times he has repeated, " Shades of my father ! depart/' he 
looks back, and believes that his rites are duly performed. 
Whence the day was called, or what is the origin of the name, 
is unknown to me ; from some God it must be learned. Thou 
son of the Pleiad, worthy of veneration from thy potent wand, 
do thou instruct me ; ofttimes has the palace of the Stygian 
Jove been visited by thee. The wand-bearing God comes at 
my prayer. Hear now the reason of the name ; the reason 
was learned from the God himself. When Romulus consigned 
to the tomb the remains of his brother, and the obsequies of 
Remus, unhappily too active, were duly performed, woe- 
stricken Faustulus, and Acca with her dishevelled locks, were 
■sprinkling his burnt bones with their tears. Afterwards, in 
their sorrow, they returned home, about the beginning of 
twilight, and threw themselves down to rest on their couch, 
hard as it was. The blood-stained ghost of Remus seemed to 
be standing by the bed, and, with a subdued gibbering, to 
utter these words, " Behold me, the half, the equal part, of all 
your prayers ! Behold of what nature 1 now am ! and of 
what nature but a little while ago I was ! I, who so short a 

performed to the ghosts or Lemures, and at the Parentalia ; and that the 
Flamen Dialis was forbidden, not only to eat that pulse, hut even 
to name it, because it was dedicated to the dead. Pythagoras forbade his 
disciples to eat this pulse, as it was supposed that the souls of men in 
the first stage of the metempsychosis were transferred into the interior 
of the bean. This fiction, which perhaps was the key to some more 
mysterious doctrine, was probably borrowed by him from the priests of 
Egypt. 

68 Looks not behind him.]— Ver. 439. Mr. Keightley justly remarks, 
tbat this superstition reminds one of that of sowing the hemp-seed on 
All-hallows Eve, and refers to Burns's Hallowe'en, st. 16-20. The nine 
times, as mentioned, was perhaps of magic efficacy, for Virgil, Eel. viii. 
1. 75, tells us that the Gods take pleasure in uneven numbers. So with 
us, the vulgar notion is, that there is < luck in odd numbers.' 

69 Copper of Temesa.]— Ver. 441. Temesa, called also Tempsa by the 
Latins, was a town of Bruttium, in Calabria. There was also a place in 
the isle of Cyprus called Temesa, or Temsa, famous for its copper mines. 



198 THE FASTI; [b. v. 461—488. 

time since, if I had obtained the omens conferring on me the 

sovereign sway, might have been the chief among my people. 

Even now have I glided from the flames of the funeral pile, 

and am a phantom of air. 70 This shape is all that is left of 

that which was Kemus. Alas ! where is Mars, my father ? If 

ye did but speak the truth, and if it was he that gave to us, 

when outcasts, the udder of the wild beasts. Me has the 

rash hand of a fellow citizen destroyed — me, the very man 

whom a she-wolf preserved — of the two, how much the more 

humane was she. Ah, cruel Celer, mayst thou yield up thy 

remorseless soul through wounds, and mayst thou pass under 

the earth all stained with gore, as I have done. My brother 

willed not this ; his brotherly affection is equal to my own. 

'Twas all he could do ; he expended his tears on my doom. 

Entreat him by those tears, by the nourishment you afforded 

him, to appoint a day to be celebrated in my honour/' As he 

gives them these commands, they long to embrace him, and 

extend their arms : the gliding phantom escapes their hands as 

they grasp at him. As the ghost in its flight deprived them 

of their slumber, they both of them reported to the king the 

words of his brother. Romulus obeyed, and he called that 

day on which the prescribed rites are performed in favour of 

the buried dead, " Remuria." The harsh letter 71 which was 

the first in the entire name, in lapse of time was changed 

into one of softer articulation. Afterwards, they called the 

ghosts of the silent shades the " Lemures :" this was the 

meaning of the word; this the import of the expression. 

Yet, on those days, the ancients shut their temples as you now 

see them shut at the festival of the Feralia. That time, too, 

was not auspicious for the marriage torches of the widow or of 

the virgin. She who married then did not long remain 72 a 

70 A phantom of air.'] — Ver. 463-4. Gower thus renders these lines — 

1 Now is your Remus but a dream of air, 
A fitting relique of the piles impair. ' 

71 The harsh letter.] — Ver. 481. He says that the feast in honour of 
the shade of Remus was originally called, Remuria, hut that in lapse of 
time the first letter was changed into the letter L, and that eventually all 
spirits of the dead obtained the appellation of * Lemures/ — a very impro- 
bable story. 

72 Bid not long remain.] — Ver. 488. He means to say that such wives, 
either by their shrewishness, or for worse reasons, soon create a necessity 
for a divorce on the part of their husbands. 



B. v. 488—515.] OB, CALEKDAE OF OVTD. 199 

wife. For this reason, too, if proverbs have any weight with 
you, the common people say that " bad prove the wives that 
are married in May." 

But these three festivals, I should observe, are at the same 
season, but continued on no one of the days intervening n 
between them. On the middle one of these days if you seek 
for the Boeotian Orion, 74 you will be disappointed. The origin 
of this Constellation must now be sung by me. Jupiter and 
his brother, who rules over the wide ocean, together with 
Mercury, were on their travels. It was the hour when 
ploughs turned over on the yoke are carried homeward, and 
the lamb drinks the milk of the ewe as it downward presses 
the udder. By chance, the old man, Hyrieus, the cultivator 
of a scanty farm, catches sight of them while he is standing 
before his humble cottage, and thus he accosts them, — "Long 
is the road, and but little of the day now remains ; my door, 
too, is ever open to the stranger." He adds looks to his 
words which fully confirm them : they comply with his invita- 
tion, and conceal their divine nature. They come beneath the 
roof of the old man, soiled with the blackening smoke ; there 
is a little fire remaining 75 in the log that had been laid on 
the day before. He, himself, on his knees, kindles the blaze 
with his breath, and then brings out and breaks up the split 
firewood. The pipkins stand on the table; the smaller of 
them contains beans ; the other herbs ; and each of them, 
covered with its lid, sends forth its steam. While there is a 
a pause, he presents with his shaking right hand the blushing 
wine. The God of the Ocean receives the first cup. When 
he has drunk off the contents, he says, " Pour out some more, 
that Jupiter, in his turn, may drink." At hearing the name 
of Jupiter, the man turns pale. As soon as his self-posses- 

73 Days intervening 7] — Ver. 492. The Lemuria were held on three 
alternate days, the 7th, 5th, and 3rd of the Ides of May, answering to 
May 9th, 11th, and 13th. 

? 4 Orion.']— Ver. 493. The Constellation of Orion sets on the 5th of 
the Ides of May. Hesiod says that he was the son of Neptune by Euryale, 
daughter of Minos. Pindar makes the Isle of Chios to have been his 
birth-place, and not Boeotia. 

75 A little fire remaining] — Ver. 506. Allusion is here made to the block 
which was kept on the hearth smouldering from day to day, to be in rea- 
diness for cooking the principal meal of the day, for which service only, 
fire would probably be required by poor people, in a warm climate. 



200 THE FASTI; [b. v. 535—542. 

sion returns, he sacrifices the ox, the tiller of his humble farm, 
roasting him on a large fire, and he draws the wine which he 
had racked in his early years, 76 when stored in a smoky cask. 
He admits of no delay ; now they reclined on couches that 
concealed under the linen cover the sedge of the river, and 
even with that addition, by no means lofty ones. Now was 
the board graced with viands, 77 and with the wine placed upon 
it. The bowl was of red clay ; the cups of beech wood. 
These were the words of Jove, — "If thy inclination leads 
thee to desire anything, wish for it: thou shalt receive any- 
thing." These were the words of the mild old man, — " I 
once had a dear wife, known as the choice of my early youth. L 
You ask where she is now : the urn covers her. To her did 
I swear this, having called yourselves as witnesses of my vow, 
thou alone shalt enjoy wedlock with me. I swore it, and 
keep my oath ; but now I have desires that are not compatible 
with each other ; I do not wish to be a husband ; but I desire 
to be a father." They assented to Ms desire; they all 
stood round the hide of the bull. Modesty forbids me to tell 
the rest. Then did they cover the soaking hide with earth 
heaped upon it. And now ten months had passed, and a boy 
was born; him Hirieus calls Urion, because he was thus 
begotten ; the first letter has now lost the ancient sound. 
He had grown to a huge size ; the Goddess of Delos took him 
as her companion ; he was the protector and the attendant 
of the Goddess. His unguarded words excited the anger of 
the Gods. "'There is no wild beast," said he, " that I am 
unable to conquer." The earth sent a scorpion ; 78 it attempted 

76 In his early years.] — Ver. 517-18. Gower thus renders these lines — 

1 Then broach'd a hogshead of his special sack, 
Which in his young days he himself did make.' 

The ' amphorae,' or ' cadi,' ' casks,' were exposed purposely to the action 
of smoke, as it was supposed to mellow the wine. 

77 Graced with viands.} — Ver. 521-2. Gower thus renders these lines — 

1 Now braves his board with dainty cakes and liquors, 
In earthen dishes, and in beech-tree beakers/ 

78 A scorpion.'] — Ver. 541. Horace does not represent him as being 
killed by the sting of a scorpion, but as being slain by the shafts of Diana, 
when he had made an attempt on her chastity. Other writers, however, 
with Ovid, represent him as the favourite and protector of that Goddess, 
and like her, excelling in the chase. 



b. v. 542—567.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 201 

to fasten its crooked claws in the Goddess, the mother of the 
twins ; Orion opposed it. Latona added him to the number 
of the radiant stars, and said, "Enjoy the reward of thy 
deserts/' 

But why do both Orion and the other stars hasten to leave 
the sky ? and why does Night contract her path ? Why, more 
swiftly than usual, does the fair day raise its beams from the 
watery deep, the morning star preceding ? Am I mistaken ? 
or do arms now clash ? I am not deceived : it was the clash 
of arms. Mars is approaching, 79 and, as he comes, he gives the 
indications of war. The Avenger himself comes down from 
heaven to his own honours, and to the temple conspicuous in 
the Forum of Augustus. Mighty is the God, and so is the work ; 
in no other fashion ought Mars to have his habitation in the 
city of his offspring. These shrines are worthy of the trophies 
won from the giants ; it becomes Gradivus from this spot to 
give an impulse to the cruel warfare ; whether it be that any 
one shall assail us from the eastern world, or whether, under 
the western Sun, the enemy will have to be subdued. He, all- 
powerful in arms, surveys the pinnacles of the highest part of 
the building, and considers it right that the unconquered Gods 
should possess its summit. He surveys, on the portals, the 
weapons of various forms, 80 and the arms of the world con- 
quered by his own soldiers. On one side, he beholds iEneas 
laden with the burden of affection, and so many progenitors 
of the noble house of lulus : on another side he beholds the 
son of Ilia 81 bearing on his shoulders the armour of the chief- 
tain, and their illustrious deeds written on the base beneath 
the heroes ranged in order. He sees, too, the temple adorned 

79 Mars is approaching. ] — Ver. 550. On the 4th of the Ides there 
were sports in the Circus in honour of Mars Ultor, or ' the Avenger/ At 
the battle of Philippi, Augustus had vowed a temple to Mars. When 
peace was restored, he built the Augustan Forum, at an immense expense, 
and there erected a temple to Mars, of surpassing magnificence. On the 
4th of the Ides of May he consecrated it. 

80 The weapons of various forms.'} — Ver. 561. Suetonius tells us, that 
on the huilding of this temple the successful generals of the time were 
ordered to erect their trophies therein ; and Pliny (Nat. Hist. Book xxxv. 
c. 10) says that Augustus erected in his own Forum (probably in the 
temple of Mars) two pictures, representing a battle and a triumph. 

81 The son of Ilia.'} — Ver. 565. Romulus ; bearing the < spolia opima,' 
the armour of Acron, king of the Cseninenses, whom he had slain with his 
own hand. 



202 THE FASTI; [b. v. 567—593. 

with the name of Augustus ; and as he reads the name of 
Caesar, the work appears still greater. This, when a young 
man, he had vowed, at the time when he took up the arms of 
duty ; from such acts as these ought a Prince to commence 
his career of command. He, stretching forth his hands, as, on 
one side, stood his avenging army, on the other, the conspira- 
tors, thus spake : — " If the father of warfare, and the priestess 
of Vesta, are the founders of my race, and I am preparing to 
avenge either of these [Divinities, do thou, Mars, come hither 
and satiate thy sword in the accursed blood, and let thy favour 
abide by the better cause. Thou shalt receive a temple, and 
when I am victorious ' The Avenger' shall be thy title." He 
had uttered his vow, and returned, exulting, from the routed 
foe. Nor is it enough for Mars once to have merited this epi- 
thet : he pursues the standards detained in the hands of the 
Parthian. This was a nation protected both by their plains, 
their horses, and their arrows, and inaccessible from the rivers 
that surrounded them. The slaughter of the Crassi 82 had 
given daring to the nation, when soldier, general, and stand- 
ards were lost together. The Parthian was in possession of 
the Roman standards, the token of honour in warfare ; and an 
enemy was the bearer of the Eoman eagle. And still would 
that disgrace have been remaining, had not the empire of Au- 
sonia been protected by the valiant armies of Caesar. 83 'Twas 
he, that removed the ancient stains, and the disgrace of so long 
duration ; the standards, when recovered, recognized their 
friends. What, then, thou Parthian, availed thee the arrows 
wont to be discharged behind thy bach? What, thy inaccessible 
places ? What, the management of thy fleet steed ? Parthian ! 
thou restorest the eagles ! thy conquered bows, 84 too, thou ex- 

82 The Crassi.'] — Ver. 583. Both M. Licinius Crassus, the father, and 
his son, P. L. Crassus, with eleven Roman legions, were cut to pieces by 
the Parthians on this occasion. Flaccus (Book hi. c- 2.) says, that at the 
time of his surprise ' he was gaping after/ * inhiabat,' the Parthian gold. 
It is said that the Parthians, in ridicule of his known weakness, cut off his 
head, and poured melted gold down his throat. 

83 Arms of C<£sar.~]— Ver. 588. Phraates, the Parthian leader, had 
agreed to restore to Caesar the standards which his countrymen had taken 
from Crassus, and afterwards from Antony ; but he hesitated to fulfil his 
engagement until he heard that Augustus was preparing an expedition to 
enforce compliance with his demand. 

84 Thy conquered bows.] — Ver. 593. Some of the Roman coins of this 



B. v. 593—620.] OB, CALEISDAB OF OYID. 203 

tendest ! Now, not any pledges of our disgrace hast thou. 
Well was the temple and the name given to the Deity who 
twice avenged us, and the deserved honour acquits us of the 
obligation undertaken by our vows. Celebrate, ye Quirites, 
these solemn games in the Circus ; the theatre does not seem 
to be befitting the God of valour. 

When one night shall be remaining before the Ides, you shall 
see all the Pleiades, 85 and the whole company of the sisters. At 
that time, according to no mean authority, as I think, the summer 
commences, and the season of the mild spring comes to a close. 

The day before the Ides shows the Bull 86 raising his face 
bespangled with stars ; a well-known story is attached to this 
Constellation. Jupiter, in the form of a bull, offered his back 
to the Tyrian maid, 87 and bore horns on an assumed forehead. 
She, with her right hand, held by his mane, and with her left 
she held her dress ; and her very alarm was a source of addi- 
tional grace. The breeze swells her flowing robes ; her auburn 
hair floats along the wind. In such guise, Sidonian maid, 
it was befitting that Jove should behold thee. Full oft did 
she raise her maiden feet from the water of the ocean, and 
dread the splash of the dashing wave; often did the God 
purposely sink deeper in the waves, that she might the more 
tightly cling to his neck. The shore now reached, Jove stood 
without horns, and from a bull was changed into a God. The 
bull enters the heavens ; thee, maid of Sidon, Jupiter em- 
braces, and a third part of the earth bears thy name. Others 
have said that this Constellation is the cow of Pharos, 88 which, 
from a human being, was made a cow, from a cow, a Goddess. 

period are still in existence, which represent a Parthian on his bended 
knee, extending towards Augustus the standards, and a how and arrows. 

85 All the Pleiades.]— Ver. 599. On the 3rd of the Ides of May, the 
Pleiades rise acronychally, and the summer begins. The ancients generally 
regulated their agricultural operations by the rising and setting of the 
Pleiades. 

86 Shows the Bull']— Ver. 603. On the day before the Ides, the 14th 
of May, the head of the Bull rises cosmically. 

87 The Tyrian maid.] — Ver. 605-6. Europa, the daughter of Agenor, 
king of Phoenicia. The following is Gower's comical translation of these 
lines, — 

1 Once Jove, well horn'd and turned to a bull, 
Pack'd up the Tyrian virgin by the gull/ 

88 The cow of Pharos.]— Ver. 619. Io, or Isis ; thus called from 
Pharos, an island of Egypt, at the mouth of the river Nile. 



204 THE FASTI ; [b. v. 621—634. 

On this day, too, the Vestal virgin is wont to throw from 
the oak-built bridge the images of the ancient men, platted in 
rushes. 89 He who has formed a belief that aged men, after their 
sixtieth year, were put to death by them, charged our ancestors 
with wanton cruelty. 90 The tradition is an old one: at the time 
when this was called the Saturnian land, these were the words 
of the prophetic God : — " Ye nations, throw two bodies in 
sacrifice to the sickle-bearing aged God, to be caught by the Etru- 
rian stream." Until the Tirynthian came to these fields, each 
year was the cruel sacrifice performed with theLeucadian rites. 91 
They say that he was the first* to throw into the stream citi- 
zens made of bundles of straw ; and that, after the example 
of Hercules, fictitious bodies are still so thrown. Some think 
that, with the view that they alone might enjoy the right of 
suffrage, the youths did fling 92 from the bridges the infirm old 

89 Platted in rushes.'] — Ver. 622. On the 'Ides of May, or, as Ovid 
seems to say, on the day hefore, the Vestals, attended by the Pontifices and 
Praetors, used to throw from the Sublician bridge thirty images of old men, 
stuffed with bulrushes. These were called Argei ; and the poet proceeds to 
inquire into the origin of a custom so remarkable. The Sublician bridge, 
from which they were thrown, was so called from the ' sublicae,' or piles 
on which it was built : it was the original bridge of Rome, and, from its 
having been the duty of the priests to keep it in repair, they received the 
name of ' pontifex,' or l bridge-maker/ which is the literal signification of 
the word. It was rebuilt of stone by iEmilius Lepidus. 

90 With wanton cruelty.] — Ver. 624. The poet rejects the first opinion, 
that it was done to commemorate a time when the ancient Romans used 
to throw the aged men into the Tiber and drown them. 

91 With the Leucadian rites.] — Ver. 630. The poet says that the second 
opinion on its origin was, that it commemorated a time when human sacri- 
fices were offered at Rome. Leucas, now Santa Maura, was anciently a 
peninsula of Acarnania ; now it is an island. The custom alluded to was 
that of throwing a criminal, on the festival of Apollo, from the heights into 
the sea, wings and a multitude of birds being first attached to him to break 
his fall. Persons in small boats waited below to catch him in his descent, 
and to carry him beyond the bounds of the country. This comparatively 
merciful dealing with a criminal would hardly justify the poet in applying 
the epithet ' Leucadian,' to the horrid custom of human sacrifice. Perhaps 
it ought to be translated rigidly ' after the Leucadian manner/ in allusion 
merely to the 'mode' of treatment in both cases ; throwing from a height 
being the method adopted, though with intentions, and probably, results, of 
so different a nature. Disappointed lovers and persons in distress used to 
throw themselves from the Leucadian rock, whence it obtained the name 
of ' the Lover's Leap/ 

92 The youths did fling.] — Ver. 634. The poet here states the third 



B. v. 634—659.] OB, CALE1SDAK OP OYID. 205 

men. Tiber, teach me the truth ; thy bank is of higher an- 
tiquity than the City; thou hast the opportunity of well 
knowing the origin of the ceremony. Tiber raises his head 
crowned with reeds from the midst of his channel, and in such 
accents opens his hoarse mouth : — " I have beheld this place, 
a lonely piece of pasture land, without walls ; each of my banks 
used to feed the straggling cattle ; and I, that Tiber which all 
nations now know and hold in dread, then was an object, even 
to the flocks, unworthy of notice. The name of Arcadian 
Evander is ofttimes mentioned to thee ; he, as a stranger, 
dashed my waters with his oars. There came, too, Alcides, 
attended by a Grecian multitude. Then, if I remember aright, 
Albula was my name. The hero of Pallantium 93 receives the 
youth with hospitality, and the punishment which was his due 
falls at length upon Cacus. The conqueror departs, and with 
him carries away the kine, the booty of Erythea ; but his fol- 
lowers refuse to proceed any further ; a great part of them 
had come having left Argos behind ; in these mountains they 
establish their hopes and their home. Yet many a time are 
they influenced by sweet love of their father-land, and as he 
dies, oft does some one of them enjoin this slight task — " Throw 
my body into the Tiber, that, carried by the waves of the river, 
I, become lifeless dust, may go to the Inachian shore." 94 The 
care of providing such a tomb as he enjoined displeases his 
heir ; the corpse of the stranger is buried in Ausonian ground ; 
a rush-made image is thrown into the Tiber instead of the 

opinion. Festus explains this story on the ground of a singular misconcep- 
tion ; that the aged men being free from the burden of public duties, but 
still retaining their right of voting, the younger ones became jealous of 
their retention of this right, and that, on their going over the ' pons/ or 
4 plank,' to record their votes, the young men used to cry out, * that they 
ought to be thrown from the ' pons,' (which word also means ; a bridge'), 
or, in other words, that they ought to lose the right of voting. The poet 
seems to say that the young men actually had the ill manners to push 
the older ones off the 'pontes.' If so, it is a very early specimen of an 
election row. 

93 The hero of Pallantium. — Ver. 647. Pallantium, a town of Arcadia, 
was the native place of Evander. The arrival of Evander and Hercules in 
Italy are referred to in the first Book. 

94 The Inachian shore.'] — Ver. 656. The Inachus was a river of Argos. 
The only ground on which the story is based seems to be the similarity of 
the name, ' Argei,' by which these images were called, and the name of 
the Argives in their own language, 'Apysioi. 



206 THE FASTI; [b. v. 659—676. 

master of the family, that over the wide seas it may return to 
a Grecian home." Thus much he said ; when he descended 
into his grottoes, dripping from the natural rock, you, ye 
lightly flowing streams, withheld your current. 

Illustrious grandson of Atlas ! come hither. Thou whom 
once, on the Arcadian mountains, one of the Pleiades brought 
forth to Jove : thou minister of peace and war to the Gods 
above, and the Gods below : thou who wendest thy way with 
winged foot ; 95 thou exulting in the touch of the Lyre ; ex- 
ulting, too, in the Palaestra shining with oil, 96 under the 
patronage of whom the tongue learned to speak with ele- 
gance ! On the Ides did their fathers erect for thee a temple 
looking towards the Circus. From that time is this a day de- 
voted to thee. Whoever make a business of selling their 
wares, having first offered thee the frankincense, beg of thee 
that thou wilt grant them profit. The fountain of Mercury 97 
is near the Capenian gate : if we may believe those who have 
experienced it, it has a divine efficacy. Hither comes the 
tradesman, having a girdle 98 round his robes, and, in a state of 

95 With winged foot.'] — Ver. 663 — 6. Gower thus renders these lines, — 

' Brave lad of Atlas, whom of Joviall seed 
Fair Maia on th' Arcadian hill did breed : 
Thou wing-foot arbiter between the gods 
Of heaven and hell, in friendship and at ods.' 

On the Ides of May, a.u.c. 497, a temple was dedicated to Mercury, as 
the patron of traders, near the Circus Maximus. His name, no doubt, came 
from the Latin word ' merx,' ' merchandize ;' and when, in later times, he 
was identified with the Grecian deity, Hermes, he received the office of 
that deity as herald or messenger of the Gods, and the giver of eloquence. 

96 The Palcestra shining with oil,} — Ver. 667. ' Palaestra' was a general 
term for all athletic exercises, such as wrestling, running, and boxing ; 
before commencing which, the persons contending used to anoint them- 
selves with oil. Mercury was the patron of these exercises ; probably, 
because they required both agility and cunning for the purpose of excelling 
in the art of self-defence, which qualifications were eminently two of the 
characteristics of Mercury. 

97 The fountain of Mercury."] — Ver. 673. This fountain or well is not 
mentioned in any other passage now existing of the ancient authors. 

98 Having a girdle.] — Ver. 675. It was customary with the tradesmen 
in those times to have a girdle round the waist, from which they sus- 
pended their purse ; sometimes, too, they used the folds of the girdle for 
the purpose of depositing their money therein. This custom must have 
considerably promoted the interests of the pickpockets at Rome. 



B . v . 676_700.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 207 

purity, he draws some of the water, to carry it away in a per- 
fumed urn ; in this a laurel branch is dipped, and with the 
wet laurel are sprinkled all the things which are intended to 
change owners. He sprinkles his own hair, too, with the 
dripping bough, and runs through his prayers in a voice ac- 
customed to deceive." "Wash away the perjuries of past 
time/' says he : " wash away my lying words of the past day, 
whether I have made thee to attest for me, or whether I have 
invoked the great Godhead of Jove, whom I did not intend to 
listen to me. Or if I have knowingly deceived any other of 
the Gods, or any Goddess, let the swift breezes bear away my 
wicked speeches. Let there be no trace left of my perjuries 
on the morrow, and let not the Gods care whatever I may 
choose to say. Do but give me profits ; give me the delight 
that rises from gam, and grant that it may be lucrative to me to 
impose on my customers." From on high, Mercury laughs at 
his worshipper while making such requests as these, remem- 
bering that once on a time he himself stole the Ortygian kine. 1 
But explain to me, I pray, who am making far more be- 
coming requests, ^om what time the Sun passes into the Con- 
stellation of the Twins? His answer was, "When thou shalt see 
days remain of the month as many as were the exploits of the 
labours of Hercules." "Tell me," I said, "the origin of this Con- 
stellation?" The God, with eloquent lips, explained the cause : 
— " The brothers, the sons of Tyndarus, had borne oiF Phcebe, 

99 Accustomed to deceive.'] — Ver. 681. The character of the trader 
was held in bad repute at Rome, and no citizen who prided himself upon 
his own respectability would be employed in commerce. From this ban 
being put upon trade, it is not surprising that it fell into the hands of 
such characters as the one mentioned in the text. Gower thus translates 
lines 685-690 :— 

1 What power soever broker to my lie 
I've made, now let them vanish all and die. 
Wink thou at all my she deceits to-day, 
Let not the Gods take notice what I say. 
Afford me gains, and joy that my desire 
Of gain is fed, and that I've gull'd the buyer/ 

1 The Ortygian kine.] — Ver. 692. Ortygia was the ancient name of 
the Isle of Delos, The allusion in the text is to the theft by Mercury of 
the cattle of Admetus, king of Thessaly, which were tended by Apollo, 
who was born in Delos. Ortygia was also the name also of a small island 
near Sicily, and was one of the epithets of Ephesus, in Ionia. 



208 THE FASTI; [b, v. 700—722. 

and the sister of Phoebe ; 2 the one of them was a horseman, 
the other skilled as a pugilist. Idas and his brother prepare 
for war, and seek to recover those betrothed to them, being 
both of them affianced to be sons-in-law of Leucippus. Love 
persuades these to recover the damsels, the others, to refuse to 
give them up ; and from the same motive each one of them 
lights. The (Ebalian brothers 3 were fully able to escape their 
pursuers by flight ; but it seemed a disgrace to conquer only by 
speed in flight. There is a spot, destitute of trees, suited as a 
fitting ground for a combat. There had they taken their 
stand ; Aphidna 4 was the name of the place. Castor having 
his breast pierced by the sword of Lyncseus, lay stretched on 
the earth by an unexpected wound. The avenging Pollux is 
at hand, and pierces Lyncseus with his spear, in the spot, where 
the neck at its termination joins the shoulders. Idas was 
rushing on him, and hardly by the lightning of Jove was he 
repelled, and they say that his weapon was not even wrenched 
from his right hand by the bolt. And now, Pollux, the lofty 
heaven was open to thee, when thou saidst, c Hear my words, 
my father ! That heaven which as of right thou gran test to 
me alone, divide between us two ; half will then be more va- 
luable to me than the whole of the gift.' He spoke, and ran- 
somed his brother by an alternate change of place ; 5 the pair 
form a Constellation serviceable to the tossed bark." Let him 
return to the month of Janus, 6 who asks what are the Agonia? 
which, however, occupy this period as well in the Calendar. 

2 The sister of Phoebe.'] — Yer. 699. Her name was Elaira, Ilaira, 
or Hilayra. She and her sister Phoebe, the daughter of Leucippus, were 
betrothed to their cousins Idas and Lynceus, the sons of Aphareus. The 
Tyndaridae, who were also their cousins, carried the damsels off in the 
manner stated in the text. 

3 The (Ebalian brothers.'] — Ver. 705. Castor and Pollux are thus 
styled, either because they were Laconians, who were also called (Ebalians, 
or because (Ebalus was their grandfather. 

4 Aphidna.] — Ver. 708. This was a Demus, or small district of Laco- 
nia. Theocritus (Idyll. 25) and Pindar (Nem. ode 10) represent this combat 
as taking place at the tomb of Aphareus, in Messenia. 

5 Change of place.] — Ver. 719-20. The following is Gower's rather 
incomprehensible translation of these lines : — 

' Then to his brother he divides his charge, 
A welcome couple to a vexed. barge/ 

6 The month of Janus.] — Ver. 721. See book i. line 317. On the 
12th of the Calends of June the Agonia were repeated. On the 11th 
the Dog-star sets ; for as such is the fact, and as ' exit ' can be so trans- 



b. v. 723—734.] OB, CALENDAR OF OVID. 209 

On the niglit succeeding this day, the Dog of Erigone de- 
parts. In another place, the origin of this sign is explained. 

The next day is that of Vulcan : they call it Tubilustria. 
The trumpets 7 which he makes are purified as sacred. 

Then comes the place for the four initials, 8 which being read 
in order, either the custom of the sacrifices, or the flight of the 
king of the sacrifices, is meant thereby. 

Nor do I pass by thee, Public Fortune, 9 of the a^-powerful 
nation ; to whom on the following day a temple was given. 

When Amphitrite, abounding in waves, shall have received 
this day, thou shalt behold the beak of the russet bird 10 so 
pleasing to Jove. The coming dawn removes Bootes from our 
sight, and, on the succeeding day, the Constellation of Hyas 11 
will be risen. 

lated with propriety, it does not seem to be just to the poet to force him to 
misrepresent an astronomical fact, when, in all probability, he had not 
even inadvertently been guilty of an error. As to the Dog-star, see book 
iv, 1. 936. 

7 The trumpets.'] — Ver. 726. On the 11th of the Calends of June the 
Tubilustria were repeated. See book iii. 1. 849. 

8 The place for the four initials.] — Ver. 727. It appears that the ninth 
day of the Calends of June, in the Roman Calendar, was marked with the 
four initials, Q. R. C. F. Varro tells us that they stood for ' quando rex 
comitiavit fas/ the time ' when the king (of the sacrifices) informs the 
people, in full assembly, of the days that are auspicious (fasti) and inaus- 
picious (nefasti).' Others think that they may signify ' quando rex comitio 
fugit,' ' when the king (of the sacrifices) flies from the people assembled' 
Plutarch tells us that the priest, or ' rex sacrificulus,' attended some 
religious ceremonies at the ' comitium ' or assembly, at the termination of 
which he formally ran out of the building, probably to signify the fact 
that he was debarred by his sacred duties from taking part in any civil 
matters. To the latter solution, the ' flight of the king' mentioned by 
the poet most probably bears reference ; whatever the ceremonial may have 
been, on this day it seems to have taken place. 

9 Public Fortune.] — Ver. 730. On the eighth of the Calends of June, 
the temple of Fortuna Publica was dedicated. Some commentators think 
that this was the temple dedicated to Fortuna Primigenia by Servius Tul- 
lius. Mr. Thynne thinks that they were different temples, and that the 
temple of Fortuna Publica was on the Capitolium, while that of Fortuna 
Primigenia was on the Quirinal. 

10 The russet bird.]— Yep. 732. On the evening of the 8th of the Ca- 
lends of June, the eagle (Aquila) rises. The eagle was the attendant 
bird of Jupiter. Hor. B. iv. Od. iv. 1. Ministrum fulminis alitem. 

11 The Constellation of Hyas.] — Ver. 734. On the 7th of the Calends 
of June, Bootes sets heliacally, and on the 6th of the Calends, the Hyades 
rise in the same manner. 



210 THE PAST I , 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 



CONTENTS. 



The three opinions on the origin of the name of the month of June, Ver. 
1 — 190. The Goddess Carna, her attributes, and her sacred rites, 101 — 
182. The temple of JunoMoneta; and the punishment of Manlius, 
183 — 190. The temple of Mars before the Capenian Gate ; the temple 
of Tempest ; the rising of the Constellation of the Eagle, 191-196. The 
rising of the Hyades, 197, 198. The temple of Bellona, (on mentioning 
which, allusion is made to Appius), 199 — 208. The temple of Hercules 
Custos, in the Circus Flaminius, 209 — 212. Mention is made of San- 
cus, Fidius, or Semo, a Sabine Deity, 213 — 218. The early part of 
June inauspicious for marriage, 219 — 234. The setting of Arctophylax ; 
the games of the Fishermen on the Campus Martius, 235—240. The 
temple of the Mind, 241 — 248. The Vestalia, with some account of 
Vesta and her worship, (in which the poet introduces the story of the 
attempt of Priapus on the chastity of the Goddess ; a description of 
the sphere of Archimedes ; and the origin of the altar to Jupiter Pistor, 
with the history of the Palladium), 249 — 460. The surname of Callaicus 
given to Brutus ; Crassus conquered by the Parthians, 461 — 468. The 
rising of the Dolphin, 469 — 472. The temple of Matuta, and the Ma- 
tralia celebrated in her honour, 473 — 562. The death of Rutilius and 
Didius in battle, 563 — 568. The temple of Fortune erected by Servius 
Tuilius ; the murder of Tullius by the agency of his daughter ; his 
miraculous birth, 569 — 636. The temple dedicated to Concord by Livia, 
637 — 648. The temple of Jupiter and the lesser Quinquatrus ; the depar- 
ture of the pipers from Rome, and their return ; the invention of the 
flute, and the punishment of Marsyas, 649 — 710. The rising of the Hy- 
ades ; the cleansing of the temple of Vesta, 711 — 714. The rising of 
Favonius, 715, 716. The rising of Orion ; the triumph of Posthumus 
Tubertus over the Volsci and the zEqui, 717 — 724. The Lion enters the 
Constellation of the Crab ; the worship of Pallas on Mount Aventine, • 
725—728. The temple of Summanus, 729—732. The rising of Ophi- 
uchus : the death of Hippolytus, 733 — 762. The defeat and death of 
Caius Flaminius at Lake Thrasymenus, 763 — 768. The conquest of 
Syphax and the death of Hasdrubal, 739, 770. The rites of Fors Fortuna, 
the Goddess of chance, with a reference to Servius Tullius, 771 — 784. 



B. VI- 1—26.] OR, CALENDAE OF OVID. 211 

The rising of Orion, 785 — 790. The temple of the Lares and of Jupiter 
Stator, 791—794. The temple of Quirinus, 795, 796. The temple of Her- 
cules and the Muses ; the praises of Marcia, 797 — 812. 

This month, too, has varying causes assigned for its name ; all 
of these being stated, you shall choose for yourself those which 
you approve of. Of realities will I sing ; but some there will 
be to say that I have invented fictions, and to believe that 
divine beings never were seen by mortals. There is a Deity 
within us ; under Iris influence we glow with inspiration ; this 
poetic fervour contains the impregnating particles of the mind 
of the Divinity. To me, especially, it is allowed to see the 
countenances of the Gods, both because I am a poet, and 
because of sacred matters do I sing. There is a grove densely 
shaded with trees, a spot sequestered from every sound, did it 
not re-echo with the murmurs of a stream. 1 Here was I 
engaged in inquiring what could be the origin of this month 
which I had commenced upon, and I was in deep thought 
upon this name. Lo ! I beheld Goddesses ; not those whom 
the instructor on agriculture had seen while he was tending 
the sheep of Ascra ; 2 nor yet those whom the son of Priam 
compared in the vales of Ida abounding in rills ; yet there 
was one of them ; yes, there was one of them, she who is the 
sister of her husband ; 'twas she, I recognized her, who stands 
on the heights 3 which belong to Jove. I was struck with awe, 
and by my speechless pallor, I was betraying my feelings, when 
the Goddess herself removed those alarms which she had 
caused, for she said, i( poet, compiler of the Roman year, 
thou who hast attempted to treat of mighty subjects in humble 
strains, thou hast earned for thyself the privilege of beholding 
a Divinity of heaven when it pleased thee to compile their 
festivals in poetic numbers. But that thou mayst not remain 
ignorant, and be influenced by a vulgar error, June, / tell thee, 

1 Murmurs of a stream.'] — Ver. 9, 10. Gower thus translates these 
lines — 

' There is a tree-thronged grave, reserv'd from all 
Shape of a sound, unlesse some water-fall.' 

2 Sheep of Ascra,] — Ver. 14. Ascra was a town near Mount Helicon, 
in Boeotia, of which place the poet Hesiod is said to have been a native. 
In his poem, entitled ' the Works and Days,' Hesiod treats of rustic 
matters, and invokes the nine Muses as his guides. 

3 On the heights.] — Ver. 18. The temple of Juno was on the right of 
that of Jupiter, on the Capitoline Hill. 

p 2 



212 THE FASTI; [b. vi. 26—59. 

derives its name from mine. ? Tis something to be the bride 
of Jove, to be the sister of Jove ; I hesitate to decide whe- 
ther I should take the more pride in him as a brother or 
as a husband. If birth is regarded, 'twas I that first made 
Saturn a parent ; I was the earliest offspring of Saturn. 
From my father, was Rome once called the land of Saturn ; 
for him, this land was the next abode after heaven. If marriage 
is held in respect, then I am called the spouse of the Thunderer, 
and my temple is adjoining to Tarpeian Jove. Was a concu- 
bine able 4 to give her name to the month of May, and shall 
this honour be grudged to me ? Why, then, am I styled the 
queen, the mistress of the Goddesses, or why in my right hand 
have they placed the sceptre of gold ? Shall the days united 
constitute the month, and shall I from them be called Lucina, 5 
and yet shall I receive no renown from a month named after 
me ? In such case, may I repent that, in good faith, I laid aside 
my wrath against the descendants of Electra and the house of 
Dardanus. Twofold was the cause of my wrath ; I grieved when 
Ganymede was borne away 5 my beauty, too, was surpassed in the 
judgment of him of Ida. May I repent that I do not still 
encourage the towers of Carthage, since there are my arms, 
and there is my chariot. Then may I repent that I subjected 
Sparta and Argos, and my own Mycenae, and the ancient 
Samos to the sway of Latium. Add, too, the ancient Tatius, 
and Falisci, worshippers of Juno, whom I brooked to see suc- 
cumb to the men of Rome. But may I have no cause for re- 
pentance, for no nation is dearer to me. Here may I still be 
worshipped; here may I share the temples with my Jove. Mars 
himself said to me, c To thee do I entrust these walls ; in the 
city of thy grandson, Romulus, shalt thou hold sway. 5 His 
words are verified ; at a hundred altars am. I worshipped , 
and the honour of giving name to this month is not of less 
value to me than any other mark of respect. Nor is it Rome 
only that pays me this honour ; the neighbours of the City 
show me the same mark of respect. Examine the Calendar, 

4 A concubine able J] — Ver. 35. The Pleiad Maia, the mother of Mer- 
cury. See Book v. 1. 85. Gower thus renders this line and the follow- 
ing one — 

* Could May, that strumpet, have a month's renown ? 
What ? And shall any dare deny me one ?' 

5 Lucina."] — Ver. 39, For the origin of this name, see Book ii. 1. 449. 



B. vi. 59—86.] OK, CALENDAR OF OTID. 213 

which Aricia, the city of the grove, and the people of Lauren- 
tuin, and my own Lanuvium 6 have ; there is the month 
Junonius to he found. Look at Tiber and the walls sacred 
to the Goddess of Praeneste ; there wilt thou read of a portion 
of time called after the name of Juno. And yet it was not 
Romulus that founded these ; whereas Rome was the city of 
my own grandson/' Juno had ceased. I looked behind me ; 
there stood the wife of Hercules, and on her features were 
the indications of grief. " I will not," said she, " if my mother 
bids 7 me quit heaven entirely, stay there against the will of 
my parent. And now I enter into no contest on the name of 
this month. In soothing accents I address thee, and I almost 
act the part of a suppliant ; and though the matter is my right, 
I would prefer obtaining it by entreaty ; and perhaps thou 
thyself mayst favour my cause. My mother has gained pos- 
session of the Capitol glittering with gold, in her temple there 
erected ; and, as is her due, she shares the high places with 
Jupiter. But all the glory belongs to me that is derived from 
the origin of the name of this month ; this is the only point 
of honour about which I feel any anxiety. What matter so 
weighty is it, if thou, man of Rome, didst give the honour of 
this month to the wife of Hercules, and if posterity conforms 
to it ? This land, too, owes me something on account of my 
illustrious husband. Hither did he drive his captured kine ; 
here Cacus, making but a poor defence with his flames and 
the gifts of his father, stained with his blood the ground of 
the Aventine. To more recent transactions I am now called ; 
according to their years, did Romulus arrange the people and 
divide them into two classes ; the one is more ready to de- 
liberate, the other to fight ; those of the one age recommend 

6 Lanuvium.'] — Ver. 60. At Lanuvium there was a temple and grove 
dedicated to Juno Sospita. At Praeneste, also, there was a temple of that 
Goddess. On ancient coins, she is sometimes called Juno Sispita. 

7 If my mother bids.} — Ver. 67, 68. Gower thus quaintly renders 
these lines — 

i Should my dear mother bid me pack away 
From heaven, saith she, in heaven I would not stay.' 

Hebe was the daughter of Jupiter and Jimo, and the wife of Hercules ; 
she was the cup-bearer of the Gods, and was the Goddess of Youth. Juno 
having asserted that the month of June was so named after her, Hebe, 
who, as the Goddess of Youth, was called ' Juventas ' by the Romans, now 
asserts that the name is derived from ' juvenis,' ' young/ 



214 THE FASTI; [b. vi. 86—109. 

the warfare, those of the other, wage the fight. Thus did he 
appoint, and with the same mark did he distinguish the 
months — June is the month of the juniors ; the month that 
precedes it, that of the aged." She said, and with the keen- 
ness of contention they would have entered on the discussion, 
and in their anger would the ties of affection have been lost 
sight of, when Concord came, her long tresses wreathed with 
the laurel of Apollo, the Deity and the object of our peaceful 
chief. When she told how that Tatius and the brave Quirinus, 
and the two kingdoms, together with their subjects, had united, 
and that fathers-in-law and sons-in-law were received under 
one common roof, " from the junction 8 of these nations/ 9 says 
she, " does the month of June derive its name. 5 ' The causes 
of the three have been stated ; but pardon me, ye Goddesses, 
it is a matter not to be decided by my arbitration. Depart, 
equal in your claims, as far as I am concerned. Through one 
who gave a judgment on beauty, did Pergamus fall ; two 
Goddesses are more potent to injure than one is to aid. 9 

The first day is dedicated to thee, Carna. 10 She is the 
Goddess of the hinge ; by her power she opens what is shut, 
and shuts what is open. Whence she derives the power that 
has been given to her, is a tale rendered obscure by lapse of 
time ; but by my verse you shall be informed thereon. The 
ancient grove of Helernus is near the stream of the Tiber ; 
even now do the Pontiffs bear thither the sacrifice. From him 
was born a Nymph (the men of the olden time called her 

8 From the junction^ — Ver. 96. The Goddess Concord suggests that 
the month of June received its name from ' jungo,' ' to join ; ' in comme- 
moration of the union of the Romans with the Sabine people ; this was a 
reason very appropriately urged by that Goddess. 

9 One is to aid.] — Ver. 99, 100. Gower thus renders these lines — 

' I leave you even. Troy ru'd th' award of Paris, 
One cannot make so much as two will marre us,* 

10 O Cama.'] — Ver. 101. On the Calends of June, the festival of this 
Deity was celebrated. Cyprian, Augustine, and Tertullian call her 
4 Carda,' or Cardea : they unite with her Forculus and Liminius, the Gods 
of the door and the hreshold, and derive her name from ' cardo,' a 
hinge/ Macrobius (Sat. Book i. ch. 12) seems to imply that her name 
was derived from • carnis/ ' flesh/ and says that she was the guardian of 
the heart and the vital parts of the human body. They were very pro- 
bably different Deities. Junius Brutus, on the expulsion of the Tarquinii, 
established the worship of Carna on the Caelian hill. 



B. VI. 109—131.] OR, CALENDAR OF OVID. 215 

Crane) ; ofttimes was she wooed by many a suitor, but in 
vain. It was her wont to haunt the fields, and to chase the 
beasts of prey with her javelin, and to spread her knotty toils 
along the hollow dell. A quiver she did not wear ; yet did 
people believe that she was the sister of Phoebus ; and she was 
not one, Phoebus, that might cause thee shame. If any of 
the young men addressed to her words of love, forthwith she 
uttered this reply, " This place has too much of light, and of 
the blushes that attend on the light : if you lead to the caves 
that are more sequestered, I follow. 5 ' The credulous lover 
goes before her ; she, having arrived at the bushes, stops short, 
and lies concealed, and is nowhere to be found. Janus had 
beheld her, and captivated with desire for her thus seen, he 
employed tender words in addressing the cruel Nymph, The 
Nymph, in her usual manner, desires a more retired grot to be 
sought, and follows as though accompanying him, and then 
deserts him as he leads the way. Foolish one ! Janus sees 
what is done behind his back ; nothing dost thou avail ; lo ! 
he is now looking behind him upon thy hiding place. " Lo ! 
nothing dost thou avail," I said, and truly ; for now, as thou 
art concealing thyself under the crag, he clasps thee in his 
embrace ; ll and, having realized his hopes, he says, " In return 
for this embrace of mine, take unto thyself the government of 
the hinge ; take this as the price of thy lost virginity." Thus 
saying, he gave her a wand ('twas a white one), by which she 
might be enabled to drive afar from doors all evil mischiefs. 
There are ravenous fowls ; not those which used to rob the 

11 In his embrace.'] — Ver. 125. Neapolis, one of the commentators of 
the seventeenth century, thus expresses himself on this story of Janus. 
' Oho! can this be the Janus that Augustine speaks of, when he says, 
" nothing occurs tome disparaging to the character of Janus ; perhaps he 
was one that lived a life of innocence far removed from crime and wicked- 
ness ?' " Mr. Keightley justly remarks that this tale must have escaped the 
knowledge or the memory of the zealous father. Gower thus renders this 
and the following lines — 

' She, as she us'd, bids him walk to a cave ; 
And as she follow'd, him the slip she gave. 
Fool ! 'tis in vain : for Janus sees thy scout ; 
He sees behind him ; and will find thee out. 
He sayes the same ; and as thou close wert laid, 
He elip'd thee close.'' 



216 THE FASTI; [ B . vi. 131—145. 

mouth of Phineiis 12 at the board, but thence do they derive their 
origin. Large are their heads, fixed is their gaze, for plunder 
are their beaks adapted ; on their wings is a greyish colour, 
crooked talons are on their claws. 13 By night they fly, and 
they seek the children unprotected by the nurse, and pollute 
their bodies, dragged from their cradles. With their beaks 
they are said to tear the entrails of the sucklings, and they 
have their maws distended with the blood which they have swal- 
lowed. " Striges," are they called; and the origin of this name 
is, the fact, that they are wont to screech in the dismal night. 
Whether it is that these birds are produced by nature, or that 
they are created by the agency of charms, and the magic song 
of the Mar si 14 transforms hags into birds ; they came to the 
chamber of Procas ; 15 Procas, born there but five days before, 
becomes the new-born prey of the birds ; and with greedy 

12 Phineus.'] — Ver. 131. The Harpies were winged monsters, which 
were sent by Juno to pollute the food of Phineus, and thereby to avenge 
his cruelty towards his sens Plexippus and Pandion, in putting out their 
eyes on a false accusation. Calais and Zethes afterwards delivered him 
from their persecution. Hesiod says they were two in number, Aello and 
Ocypete, and Apollodorus says they were the offspring of Thaumas and 
Electra, and represents them as snatching away the food of the Argonauts, 
Virgil says that they had the face of women, wings, and hooked talons, and 
were foul and disgusting objects. 

13 On their claws.~\ — Ver. 133, 134. Gower thus renders these lines — 

' Great heads ; glore eyes ; hook beaks upon their jaws ; 
Their feathers gray ; huge tallons on their claws.' 

Mr. Stanford informs us that the description here given agrees closely with 
that of the ' vespertilio vampyrus ' of Linnaeus ; a species of bat, with 
large canine teeth, sharp black beak, the claws very strong, and hooked. 
They inhabit Guinea, Madagascar, and all the islands thence to the re- 
motest in the Indian Ocean. Buffon supposes that they were not un- 
known to the ancients, and that they gave rise to the fiction of the Harpies. 
Linnseus calls this species of bat, the vampyre, conjecturing it to be the 
kind which draws blood from any creature it may find asleep. The name 
1 strix' is derived from the Greek orpi£o>, ' to screech.' 

14 The Marsi."] — Ver. 142. ' Striges,' the plural of ' strix,' also signified 
1 hags,' or ' witches,' from a belief that they had the pow r er of assuming 
this form at night : reference is made in the text to this belief. The 
Marsi were a people of Italy, celebrated for their skill in sorcery ; and 
were supposed to be descended from Marsus, the son of Circe, the en- 
chantress. 

15 Procas.] — Ver. 143. He was one of the kings of Alba Longa, and 
is found in the list given in the note to Book iv. 1. 52. 



B. vi. 145—174.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 217 

tongues they suck the breast of the infant ; the hapless child 
screams, and thereby summons aid. Frightened by the cries 
of her young charge, the nurse runs to him and finds his 
cheeks mangled by their hard claws. What was she to do ? 
The hue of his face was that which is wont to be on the latest 
leaves, which the winter, just arrived, has seared. She came 
to Crane, and told her of the matter. She said, " Lay aside 
thy fear ; safe and sound shall be thy charge ! " She had now 
come to the cradle : the father and mother were weeping, 
" Stay your tears," said she ; " I myself will find a remedy ! " 
Forthwith, thrice in due order, she touches the lintels with a 
branch of the arbutus ; thrice, with the same branch, does she 
mark the threshold. The entrance she sprinkles with water, 
but which water contains a drug, and she holds the raw entrails 
of a two* year-old sow ; and thus she says, — " Ye birds of the 
night, spare the vitals of the child ! for a little babe a little 
victim falls ; take ye heart for heart, I pray — vitals for vitals ! 
this life w r e give to you in the stead of a better one." When 
thus she presented the offering, cut in pieces, she lays it in 
the open air, and forbids those who are present at the rites to 
look back upon it. The wand, too, of Janus, made of the 
white thorn, 16 was placed in the spot where the narrow window 
gave light to the chamber : after that, it is said that the birds 
no more polluted the cradle, and the complexion which he for- 
merly had, returned to the child. 

You ask why fat bacon is tasted on these Calends, and 
beans 17 are mixed with the boiled spelt? She is a Goddess 
of ancient days, and she still diets on the food that in olden 
time she used to receive, and she does not in a spirit of luxury 
ask for the dainties of foreign lands. In that day, uncaught 
by that people, swam the fish ; and the oysters 18 were safe in 

16 Made of the white thorn.] — Ver. 165. The wood of this tree was 
supposed to avert the evil effects of drugs and enchantments, to repel 
ghosts, and to heal wounds inflicted by the sting or bite of serpents. 

tf And beans.'] — Ver. 170. Those who are fond of the dish of 
beans and bacon little imagine that they are indulging in a purely 
classical taste, and that, unwittingly, they are, to some extent, votaries of 
the Goddess Carna. 

18 And the oysters.] — Ver. 173. The man who was to be the first to 
eat an oyster had not then appeared ; a feat which, in the opinion of 
some, required a very considerable amount of courage. So fond did the 
Romans become of this fish, that their emperors were supplied from the 



218 THE FASTI; [b. VI. 174—192. 

their shells. Latium had not become acquainted with the 
fowl, which rich Ionia 19 produces, nor that which delights 
in the blood of the Pygmies. Then, beyond its plumage, there 
was nothing to please in the peacock ; nor had any land sent 
its animals encaged, which before were beasts of chase. Swine 
then were valuable ; by killing a sow they honoured their 
festivals. The land then produced but beans and the hard- 
grained spelt. Whoever eats these two things mingled, on the 
Calends of the sixth month, they say that his stomach can re- 
ceive no harm. 

On the loftiest height of the Capitol, tradition says that a 
temple was built to Juno Moneta, according to thy vow, 
Camillus ! Before, it had been the house of Manlius, 20 who 
formerly repulsed the arms of Gaul from Capitoline Jove. 
How gracefully — great Gods ! had he fallen in that fight, 
the defender of thy throne, Jove, who sittest on high ! He 
lived, that he might die, condemned for aspiring to regal power. 
The credit of doing this, did protracted old age give to him. 

The same day is a festival of Mars ; 21 whom the Capenian 
gate beholds, outside the walls, situated close to the covered 
way. 

beds at Rutupium, in Kent, near the modern Sandwich, which were 
celebrated for the delicate flavour of the oysters found there. 

19 Ionia.] — Ver. 175. The bird here mentioned was the ' Attagen,' 
similar to our woodcock, the best flavoured of which came from Ionia. 
The Pigmies were a fabulous people of Thrace, who were but a foot and a 
half in height, and against whom the cranes are fabled to have waged con- 
tinual warfare. 

20 Manlius.'] — Ver. 185. Marcus Manlius was the first to drive the 
Gauls from the battlements of Rome when they were entering the Capitol 
in the night, and, by raising the alarm, to save that last hope of the City. 
In remembrance of this, he received the surname of Capitolinus. Being 
of a turbulent disposition, he became an object of dislike to the Patricians, 
and was finally thrown from the Tarpeian rock, on the charge of aspiring 
to the sovereign power at Rome. Gower thus renders this and the following 
line, little suspecting, perhaps, the anachronism that he was committing, — 

' There Manlius* house once stood ; who did remove 
The Frenchmen's troops from Capitolian Jove/ 

21 Festival of Mars.] — Ver. 191. On the Calends of June a sacrifice 
was offered to Mars, outside of the Capenian gate. It is not clear whether 
the temple of Mars here mentioned was on the Appian road, or had a way 
leading to it from the Appian road, which began at the Capenian gate. 
Perhaps the ' Tecta via' was a covered way or arcade leading up to it. 
Commentators are at a loss for the signification here of the word ' tecta.' 



b. vi. 193—205.] or, cale:n t dak or oyid. 219 

Thee too, Tempest, 22 we acknowledge to have deserved 
a shrine, at the time when our fleet was almost overwhelmed 
by the waves of Corsica. These memorials raised by men 
are exposed to our view. If you inquire as to the stars ; at 
that time rises the bird of Jove 23 with its crooked beak. 

The next day summons the Hyades, the horns on the 
forehead 24 of the bull : and the earth is soaked with copious 
showers. 

When twice the Moon has come, and Phoebus has twice re- 
peated his rising, and twice the standing corn has been ren- 
dered moist by the descent of the dew upon it ; on this day 
Bellona 25 is said to have been enshrined in the Etrurian war ; 
she, auspicious, ever favours Latium. Appius was the builder : 
he, who, when peace was refused to Pyrrhus, 26 saw clearly 
in his mind : though, as to his eyes, he was blind. A small 
open space 27 before the temple looks forth on the highest 

Mr. Stanford suggests ' paved' as the meaning, a term especially applicable 
to the Appian way, which was so firmly paved with flint and cement that 
portions of it are still entire after a lapse of above two thousand years. 

22 Tempest. ,] — Ver. 193. L. Scipio, the Consul, having conquered the 
island of Corsica, built a temple to the deity ' Tempestas/ a.u.c. 495, in. 
gratitude for his escape from a violent tempest while engaged in his descent 
upon that island. 

23 The bird of Jove.~\ — Ver. 196. On the evening of the Calends of 
June, the Constellation Aquila rises. 

24 The horns on the forehead '.] — Ver. 197. The Hyades are so called, 
as they are situated in the forehead of the Constellation Taurus. On the 
fourth of the Nones of June, the Hyades rise heliacally, accompanied with 
rain. 

25 Bellona."] — Ver. 201. A temple to Bellona, the Goddess of War, 
was raised by Appius Claudius, during a battle in the Etrurian war, a.u.c. 
458, and in this temple, which was near the Carmental gate, he erected 
the statues of his ancestors. Here the Senate gave audience to such 
foreign ambassadors as, from political motives, were not admitted into the 
city. 

26 Refused to Pyrrhus.] — Ver. 203. When the Senate were inclining to 
make peace with Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, and to allow him to retain 
possession of his Italian conquests, Appius, who was then blind, had him- 
self conveyed to the Senate-house in a litter, to dissuade them from 
adopting that step. 

27 A small open space.] — Ver. 205. Before the temple of Bellona was 
a small open space, which reached to the upper part of the Flaminian 
Circus. Here was a small column, and on proclaiming war against the 
enemy, the Fecialis (who combined in his person the character of priest 



220 THE FASTI; [ B . vi.— 205— 223. 

part of the Circus. There stands a column, small indeed, but 
of no small fame. From this spot, is wont to be hurled by 
the hand, the spear, the herald of war, when it seems good 
that arms should be taken up against the monarch and against 
the nations. 

The other part of the Circus is secure under the guardian- 
ship of Hercules, 28 which honour, through the prophecy of the 
Euboean Sibyl, that God possesses. The season of the dedica- 
tion is the light-bearing day, which is before the Nones. If 
you ask what is the inscription, it is, " Sylla 29 sanctioned the 
building." 

I was inquiring whether I should attribute the Nones to 
Sancus, or to Fidius, or to thee, Father Semo? 30 when 
Sancus said to me, " To whichever of them thou shalt assign 
it, I shall still hold the honour. I bear these three names ; 
'twas thus that Cures willed." Him then, the ancient Sabines 
presented with a temple, and enshrined him on the Quirinal 
hill. 

I have a daughter 31 (and long, I pray, may she survive my 
years), as long as she is in comfort I shall ever be happy. 
When I was wishful to bestow her on a son-in-law, I inquired 
what period was proper for the nuptial torch, and what time 
should be shunned. Then June was pointed out to me as 

and herald) threw a spear over the column into a field adjoining, called the 
* Ager Hostilis,' to signifying the commencement of hostilities. In the 
early days of Rome, when the hostile states were close at hand, the 
Fecialis used to throw the spear into the enemy's territories. 

28 Hercules.] — Ver. 209. It is doubtful whether there was one temple 
to Hercules, or two, in the Flaminian Circus. Neapolis thinks there were 
two ; the one mentioned in the text, and another erected by Fulvius Nobi- 
lior, and repaired by Philippus, as stated in line 802 of this Book. 

29 Sylla.'] — Ver. 212. Sylla, in his Censorship, approved, 'probavit/ 
this temple of Hercules. The Censors had the charge of the public build- 
ings and temples, superintended their erection, and inspected and sanc- 
tioned them when built. Sylla regarded Hercules with especial veneration, 
as, to that Deity he imputed his political success and the immensity of 
the wealth that he had acquired. 

30 O Father Semo.] — Ver. 214. This deity was named Sancus or 
Sangus, Sanctus, Fidius or Dius Fidius, and Semo, and is generally sup- 
posed to have been the Sabine Hercules. St. Augustine says that Sancus 
was one of the kings of the Sabines, whom they had deified. 

31 A daughter.] — Ver. 220. The very little that has come down to us 
concerning the daughter of the poet will be found .mentioned in the life of 
Ovid, sketched in the Introduction. 



B. vi. 223—244.] OB, CALENDAR OF OYJLD. 221 

being, after the sacred Ides, 32 lucky for brides, and lucky for 
their husbands. The first part of this month was found to 
be ill-suited for nuptials ; for thus did the holy wife of the 
Flamen Dialis say to me, " Until the gently flowing Tiber 33 
shall have borne on his yellowwaters, to the deep, the cleansings 
from the shrine of liian Vesta, it is not lawful for me to comb, 
with the box-wood, my shorn locks, nor to pare my nails with 
the knife, nor to approach my husband's bed ; although he is 
the priest of Jove, and although to me he has been given by 
an eternal compact. Be not thou in any haste ; thy daughter 
will marry more auspiciously when the shrine of Yesta, God- 
dess of the Holy Fire, shall be graced with a cleansed floor. 

The third Moon 34 after the Nones is said to remove Lycaon, 
and the Bear has no more cause of alarm behind her. I re- 
member that it is at that time, rolling Tiber, that I beheld 
thy games upon the sward of the Campus Martins. This is a 
holiday to those who drag the dripping nets, and who bait 
with tiny morsels the hooked brass. 35 

The Mind 36 too is deified. We see shrines to the Mind, that 
were voted through fear of thy war, treacherous Carthaginian, 
Carthaginian, thou hadst renewed the war, and all, in dismay at 

32 After the sacred Ides."] — Ver. 223. It was not lucky to marry before 
the Ides of June ; all the rest of the month was auspicious for that purpose. 

3:3 The gently Mowing Tiber.] — Ver. 227. Festus and Varro tell us 
that the garbage and cleansings of this temple were deposited in a place 
near the Capitoline hill ; and, most probably, (notwithstanding what the 
poet here says), they are correct in the assertion. It is hard to believe 
that the Romans treated their Tiber as badly as we do our Thames. Gower 
thus renders this and the preceding line, — 

1 Till gilded Tiber all the soil and trash 
Of Vesta's temple into sea doth wash.' 

34 The third Moon] — On the 7th of the Ides of June, Arctophylax or 
Bootes sets in the morning. Lycaon is here put for Areas, who was the 
grandson of Lycaon. See Book ii. 1. 153. 

35 The hooked brass.] — Ver. 239, 240. Gower thus renders these lines, — 

1 This is the fisherman's feast day, who tangle 
Fish in their nets, with those who use the angle.' 

56 The Mind.]—Vev. 241. This temple is supposed to have been dedi- 
cated shortly after the defeat of the Roman army at Lake Thrasymenus, 
and the death of the Consul C. Flaminius, by the direction of the Sibylline 
books. 



222 THE FASTI ; [b. vi. 244—269. 

the death of the Consul, stood in dread of the Moorish arms« 3r 
Terror had banished hope ; when the Senate made a vow to 
the Mind, and forthwith, more auspicious 3S did she become. 
That day, on which the vow was performed for the Goddess, 
sees the approach of the Ides in six days from it. 

Vesta, 39 bestow on us thy favour ! Now do we open our 
lips in honour of thee, if it is lawful to do honour to thy sacri- 
fices. I was totally wrapt in my prayer ; 1 became sensible 
of the presence of the celestial Divinity, and the joyous ground 
-reflected back the purple light. As for me, I saw thee not, 
Goddess — farewell to the fictions of the poets — by the eyes 
of man thou wast not possible to be seen. But those things 
which I had not known, and as to which I was hitherto kept 
in entire ignorance, were known to me without the instruc- 
tion of any one. They say that Rome had kept the festivals 
of Pales, four times ten in number, when the guardian of the 
sacred flame was received into her temple. This was the act 
of that peaceful king, than whom, no one more piously dis- 
posed, did the land of the Sabines ever bear. The shrines 
which you now see roofed with brass, then you might see 
covered with straw, and their walls were woven of the pliant 
osier. This little spot, which now supports the hall of Vesta, 
was in those days the vast palace of the unshaven Numa. 
Yet the shape of the temple which now remains is said to 
have been anciently the same : and there exists a reason for 
its figure worthy of our approval. Vesta is the same Divinity 
as the Earth ; the never-sleeping fire belongs to each. The 
Earth and the Vestal fire represent their respective positions. 40 

37 The Moorish arms.] — Ver. 244. Livy tells us that there were Moors 
in the army of Hannibal ; but the poet most probably here employs the 
term to signify Africans generally. 

38 More auspicious •J] — Ver. 246. This is said in reference to the able 
conduct of Q. Fabius Maximus, surnamed ' Cunctatoiy ' the delayer/ who, 
hy his masterly conduct, rescued Rome and Italy from the subjugation so 
lately threatened by Hannibal. 

39 Vesta.] — Ver. 249. On the 5th of the Ides the Vestalia were cele- 
brated. 

40 Respective positions.] — Ver. 268. He seems to mean, that the temple 
of Vesta being round, and the Vestal fire being in the midst of it, the fire 
was symbolical of the position which the earth was then supposed to oc- 
cupy in the middle of the system. In the 267th line he says that Vesta and 
the Earth are the same ; but in line 290 he says that Vesta is the same as 
fire ; and in other instances he seems to be guilty of a similar confusion 
of ideas. Perhaps Vesta may ha^ve been originally considered as the 



B. vi. 269—289.] OB. CALENDAR OP OYID. 



223 



The Earth, like a ball 41 in shape, upheld by no support, hangs, 
a mass, weighty as it is, in the surrounding air. Its 
very roundness keeps this orb well poised, and there are no 
angles in it to press upon the parts external to it ; and since 
it has been placed in the very middle of the universe, and is 
touching no one side more or less than the other, were it not 
round, then it would come nearer to one part than the other, 
and the universe would no longer have the earth as a weight in 
the middle of it. And, by ivay of illustration, there stands a 
globe in the citadel of Syracuse, suspended in the air, 42 con- 
fined within a limited space, a little model of the boundless 
system ; and as far as the earth is distant from the top, so far 
is it from the bottom ; the roundness of its form produces 
this result. Similar is the form of the temple : in it, there is 
no projecting angle — a dome protects it from the showers of 
rain. 

You ask why the Goddess is worshipped by virgin attend- 
ants ? On this subject, too, I shall discover suitable reasons. 
They say that Juno and Ceres were born of the seed of Saturn, 
from Ops ; Vesta was the third. The two former were wedded ; 
both are stated to have become mothers ; one of the three re- 
mained without knowing man : what wonder is there if a 

phlogiston, or natural heat which pervades the earth, and by degrees she 
may thus have become confounded with the earth itself. This is the more 
probable, as Vesta is sometimes styled the soul of the earth. However the 
point may be settled, this and the previous line are full of difficulties, and 
. are not very easily rendered intelligible. 

41 Like a ball.'] — Ver. 269. This and the next five lines are wanting 
in all the MSS. but seven, and are considered by Gierig to be spurious, 
though it is difficult to conceive for what reason, as they are intelligible, 
and bear no marks of corrupt Latinity. Mr. Keightley, however, agrees 
with Gierig's opinion. 

42 In the airJ] — Ver. 277. Mr. Keightley suggests, that ' in aere clauso ' 
may mean, ' shut up in a glass-case.' The words may probably have that 
meaning, and the suggestion is ingenious. They would not appear, how- 
ever, of necessity, to mean anything more than that the model stood 
under cover, and not in the open air ; the air being not ' apertum,' or 
* open/ but ' clausum/ ' shut up/ — perhaps by four walls, and certainly by 
the i tholus/ or dome, for a roof. ' Poius ' seems to mean 'the system/ 
which was probably represented on an exterior surface, within which the 
earth hung (perhaps by a thread, or line cord, in its centre) in the middle, 
and consequently, as the poet says, on all sides equi-distant from the sur- 
rounding system. The citadel of Syracuse was called Achradina ; and 
there, according to Athenasus, this model was kept 



224 THE FASTI; [b. vi. 289—311. 

virgin, pleased with a virgin attendant, admits chaste hands 
alone to her sacrifices. And consider Vesta nothing else than 
the living flame ; you see that no bodies are produced by 
flame. In truth, then, she is a virgin, who neither yields nor 
receives the principles of conception, and who has like com- 
panions of her virgin state. Long did I, in my simplicity, 
imagine that there were statues of Vesta, but I afterwards 
ascertained that there were none under her concave dome. 
The fire that has never been extinguished lies hidden in that 
temple. Neither Vesta nor fire has any likeness. By its own 
strength does the earth rest : from standing by her own strength 
is she named Vesta ; 43 and similar may be the origin of her 
Grsecian appellation; but the hearth derives its name ["focus"] 
from the flames, and because it cherishes 44 all things : it 
formerly stood in the porch of the houses. From this I 
think that spot is called the " Vestibule." It is from that cir- 
cumstance that we say in prayer, " Vesta, thou who dost 
inhabit the foremost place." Before the hearths, it was the 
custom formerly to sit together on long benches, 45 and to be- 
lieve that the Gods were there at the board. Now, too, when 
sacred rites are performed to the ancient Vacuna, 46 they stand 
and sit before the hearths of Vacuna. To our years has come 
down a relic of the ancient custom ; a clean platter bears the 
food sent as a present offered to Vesta. Behold ! the loaves of 

43 Is she named Vesta.] — Ver. 299. The poet here says, that the name 
of Vesta is derived from the two words ' vi stare/ ' to stand by (her own) 
strength.' In this he is wrong, as the word is derived from the Greek 
name of the Goddess, "Earia, which also signifies ' a hearth/ and comes 
from the Greek verb 'utttijii, i to stand.' 

44 It cherishes.] — Ver. 301. He says that 'focus' is derived from the 
verb 'foveo,' 'to cherish,' or 'warm ;' because the hearth, by the aid of 
name sends forth heat. 

45 Long benches.] — Ver. 305. The poet refers to early times, when 
people sat on benches to take their meals, before the custom of reclining 
on couches, on those occasions, had been introduced from the East. He 
means to say, that as they sat near the fire, they considered Vesta (who 
was represented by it) and the Lares, or Penates (whose shrine was close 
by), were joining in the meal. 

46 Ancient Vacuna.] — Ver. 307. She was the Goddess of Leisure and 
Indolence, and is supposed to have been a Sabine deity. By some, she is 
identified with Diana, Ceres, or Venus ; and by others with Minerva, or 
Victory. The husbandmen worshipped her, after the gathering in of the 
harvest, that they might, through her favour, obtain a winter of repose. 



B# VI . 311—339] OK, CALENDAR OF OYID. 225 

bread hang down from the asses bedecked with garlands, and 
the wreaths of flowers cover the rough mill-stones. In former 
times the peasants were wont to parch their spelt only in 
ovens ; and hence the Goddess of the kiln 47 has her own rites. 
The hearth itself used to bake the bread placed beneath the 
ashes, and broken tiles were strewed along the warm floor. 
From that circumstance, does the baker reverence the hearth, 
and Vesta, the mistress of the hearths, and the same does the 
ass, which turns round the mill-stones rough as the pumice. 
Shall I pass it by, or shall I tell thy disgrace, ruddy Priapus ? 48 
It is a short story, but full of fun. Cybele, with her brow 
crowned with turrets, invites to her feast the eternal Gods. 
She invites, too, the Satyrs and the Nymphs, Deities of the 
country. Silenus comes, too, though no one had invited him. 
It is not lawful, 'twere tedious, too, to relate the banquet of 
the Gods ; a sleepless night is spent over copious draughts of 
wine. Some are carelessly wandering in the vales of the shady 
Ida ; some are lying down, and resting their limbs on the 
soft herbage. Some are disporting : 49 upon some, Sleep lays her 
hand : some join hands, and then with active foot they beat 
the ground. Yestais lying down, and, free from fear, she enjoys 
quiet repose, supporting her head, reclining just as it was, on 
a tuft of grass. But the ruddy keeper of the gardens is now 
chasing both Nymphs and Goddesses, and turns his wan- 
dering steps, first in this direction, then in that. He spies 
Vesta, too ; whether he took her for a Nymph, or whether he 
knew that she was Vesta, is a matter of doubt ; he himself 
declares that he did not know her. He conceives impure 
hopes, and stealthily attempts to approach her, and with a 
palpitating heart he advances on tiptoe. By chance the old 

47 The Goddess of the kiln.] — Ver. 314. For an account of the rites of 
the Goddess Fornax, see Book ii. 1. 525. 

48 Priapus.] — Ver. 319. This story is so like that of the nymph Lotis, 
Book i. 1. 391, that it is difficult to imagine why the poet should repeat. 
it ; except that it is here introduced in connexion with Vesta. 

49 Are disporting.'] — Ver. 329, 330. Gower thus renders these lines — 

' Some sport, some snort ; some arm-in-arm a round 
Do make, and nimbly trip it on the ground.' 

Lines 233, 234 he renders thus — 

' But tawny Priap up and down there traces, 
And peers on all the Goddesses and lasses.' 

Q 



226 THE FASTI; [b. vi. 339—364. 

man Silenus had left the ass on which he had rode, near the 
bank of a gently murmuring stream. The God of the extended 
Hellespont is about to commence his project, when, with an 
unseasonable noise, the ass brays aloud. Alarmed at this 
harsh sound, the Goddess arises. All the company run to 
the same spot : he escapes through their indignant hands. 
Lampsaeus 50 is wont to sacrifice this animal to Priapus : 
aptly, too, do we consign to the flames the entrails of the tell- 
tale ass. Him dost thou, O grateful Goddess, adorn with 
necklaces made of loaves : 51 at that time, too, the mill-stones, 
in idleness, cease their grating noise. I will tell what means 
the altar of Jupiter Pistor, 52 on the height of the Thunderer, 
more glorious in its renown than in its actual value. The 
Capitol, beleaguered, was pressed hard by the savage Gauls : 
the extreme length of the siege had caused a famiue. Jupiter 
having called the Gods to his royal throne, says to Mars, " Do 
thou begin." Forthwith he answers, " Is it unknown to thee, 
forsooth, what is the present fortune of my people ; and does 
this pang of my soul need the voice of complaint ? If, how- 
ever, thou requirest that I should, in a word, relate their woes 
in conjunction with their disgrace ; Rome now lies at the foot 
of an Alpine foe. Is this the city, Jupiter, to which had 
been promised the sovereignty of the world ? Is it this that 
thou wast to impose as a ruler upon the earth ? Already has 
she crushed the people in her vicinity, and the arms of Etruria. 
In their full career were our hopes ; now, from her very home, 
has she been expelled. We have seen the veterans graced by 
many a triumph, adorned with their embroidered garments, 

50 Lampsacus.'] — Ver. 345,346. These lines are considered to be spurious 
by Heinsius and other commentators. The following is Gower's quaint 
translation of them : — 

' The Lampsacenes to him the asse do kill ; 
This tell-tale's g — ts are fitly broiled still.' 

51 Necklaces made of loaves.'] — Ver. 347. He says, that in gratitude 
for the service done by the ass to Vesta on this occasion, it was the cus- 
tom, at her festival, to give that animal a day of rest, and a necklace made 
of loaves. It is not clear whether the necklace was formed of one entire 
loaf, baked in the form of a ring, or whether it was made of a number of 
small cakes or loaves strung together. 

52 Jupiter Pistor.'} — Ver. 350. Literally, ' Jupiter the Baker.' This 
God is mentioned onlv by this author and Lactantius. 



b. vi. 364—383.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 227 

fall under the slaughtering hand, in the halls 53 bedecked with 
brass. We have seen the pledges of the Ilian Vesta 54 trans- 
ferred from their abode to another retreat ; clearly, they be- 
lieve that some Gods 55 do exist. But if they only took notice 
that the spot where ye Gods inhabit on the Capitoline heights, 
and so many of your mansions are invested in blockade ; if so, 
I say, they would surely know that there no longer exists any 
benefit in their worship of the Gods, and that the frankincense 
offered with the anxious hand is lost. Oh ! would that an 
opportunity for the fight were given to them ! Let them take 
arms ; and if they cannot conquer, why let them perish. Now 
destitute of food, and dreading an inglorious death, a rabble 
of barbarians is beleaguering them, cooped up on their own 
hill. Then Venus, and Quirinus graced with his staff 56 and 
his kingly robe, and Vesta, pleaded many things in behalf of 
their Latium. Jupiter said, in reply, " All of us are concerned 
in common for these walls, and conquered Gaul shall suffer 
retribution. Do thou, Vesta, but effect, that of those pro- 
visions which are scarce, there should be thought to be a 
superabundance, and desert not thy own abode. Whatever 
unground grain there is, let the hollow machine 57 bruise it, 
and, kneaded with the hand, let the hearth harden it upon the 
fire." He had given his commands, and the Virgin, the 
daughter of Saturn, assents to the orders of her brother. 

53 In the halls.'] — Ver. 363. Florus tells us, that on the irruption of 
the Gauls, the Senators devoted themselves to the Manes, in the Forum, 
and then retired to their houses, there to await their fate. Plutarch and 
Livy inform us that they were slain in the Forum. 

54 The Ilian Vesta.~\ — Ver. 365. The sacred fire, and other holy things 
in the temple of Vesta, were conveyed from Rome to Caere, a town of 
Etruria, where those who fled with them were hospitably entertained. 
The people of Caere received the freedom of the city of Rome by way of 
recompense for their pious hospitality. 

55 That some Gods.'] — Ver. 366. The meaning of this somewhat ob- 
scure passage seems to be — Although the Romans find themselves de- 
serted by us, yet from the care which they still take of the sacred things 
of Vesta, it is clear that they believe in her existence at least. 

56 With his staff.] — Ver. 375. ' Lituus' properly means a staff with a 
curved top, used by the augurs in pointing to the heavens, the form of 
which is still retained in the crosier of the bishops. 

57 The hollow machine.] — Ver. 381. The mill is so called here, proba- 
bly from the circumstance that the lower stone was somewhat hollowed, 
whence it was called ' catillus,' which properly signifies ' a dish.' 

Q2 . 



228 THE FASTI ; [ B . vi. 384—405. 

"Twas now the hour of midnight : toil had brought sleep to the 
chiefs. Jupiter chides them, and, with his holy lips, he sig- 
nifies to them his wishes : " Rise ye, and, from the top- 
most towers, hurl down into, the midst of the enemy that suc- 
cour which least of all ye prefer to resign." Sleep departs, 
and, in agitation, by reason of these strange dark sayings, they 
make inquiries what succour it is that they would be un- 
willing, and yet that they are ordered to resign ? Lo ! it 
seems to them that it is bread. They hurl down the gifts 
of Ceres ; thrown down, they rattle over helmets and long 
bucklers. Ail hope that they could be overcome through 
famine, deserts the enemy. The foe being repulsed, a marble 
altar is erected to Jupiter Pistor. 

It chanced that I was returning from the festival of Vesta, 
by that way by which the new street is now joined to the 
Roman Forum. I saw a matron coming along down it with 
bare feet ; I was surprised, and, in silence, I made a pause. 
An old woman who lived near the place perceived my asto- 
nishment, and, requesting me to be seated, she addressed me, 
shaking her palsi ed head, in a tremulous voice : — " This place, 
where now are the markets, formerly fenny marshes covered ; a 
ditch was here swimming with water, from the overflowing of 
the river. That spot formed the Curtian lake 58 which now 
supports the altars on dry ground ; 'tis now dry ground, but 
once it was a lake. In the spot where the Yelabra 59 are now 

5S The Curtian lake.'] — Ver. 403. In early times, the valleys between 
the hills of Rome were often rendered swampy, and almost impassable, 
through the frequent inundations of the Tiber. The spot called the ' Cur- 
tius Lacus ' received its name from some heroic act there performed by a 
soldier named Curtius ; but there are doubts as to the period when that 
name was first given. Some suppose that it was so called from Marcus 
Curtius, who there exhibited his heroism by leaping into the yawning 
gulf, a self-devoted sacrifice for the benefit of his country ; while others 
understand it to refer to Mettus Curtius, a Sabine soldier, who withstood 
the Romans on this spot, and lost his horse in the marsh. It retained 
the name ' Lacus,' for centuries after it had been drained, and had * sup- 
ported the altars on dry ground.' 

59 The Velabra.]—VeT. 405. The * Via Nova,' or « New way,' led 
from the streets called ' Velabra ' into the interior part of Rome. The 
greater, and the less ' Velabrum,' lay between the Palatine and Capitoline 
hills : oil, fruits, and other commodities were there sold in booths, or under 
awnings. Varro says that these streets received their name from the verb 
1 veho,' * to carry/ because in early times that part was traversed in boats ; 
which mode of carriage also was called ' V datura.' 



B. vi. 405—423.] OE, CALENDAR OF OVID. 229 

wont to lead the processions into the Circus, nought was there 
then but willows and dense reeds. Ofttimes does the reveller 
sing, as he is returning homeward through the waters of the 
suburbs, and passes his drunken jokes upon the sailors. Not 
yet had the God, he who adapts himself to various forms, re- 
ceived a name from the turning aside of the river. 60 Here, too, 
there was a sacred grove, dense with bulrushes and reeds, and 
a marsh not to be approached with covered feet. The stand- 
ing waters have been drained off; its own bank confines the 
stream, and now the ground is dry ; yet still is the custom kept 
up." She had told me the cause. " Farewell, most worthy 
dame," said I; "tranquil be the remainder of thy days." 01 
The rest that I shall tell, I learned long since in the days of 
my childhood ; but it must not on that account be passed over 
by me. Ilus, 62 the descendant of Dardanus, had just built his 
new walls : the wealthy Ilus still held the sovereignty of Asia. 
The heavenly statue of the armed Minerva 63 is believed to have 
fallen on the heights of the city of Ilus : to see it was my 

60 Turning aside of the river.'] — Ver. 410. On this spot, in a street 
called the Etrurian Street, there was a statue of Vortumnus, or Vertum- 
nus, a God of Etruria. He received this name from having, on an inun- 
dation, changed the course of the river; 'Verto' signifying * to turn.' 
The poet makes allusion to the variety of forms which were assumed by 
Yertumnus while wooing the nymph Pomona, which story he relates in 
the 14th book of the Metamorphoses, 1. 637. According to some, he was 
the God of the autumnal fruits ; and, according to others, of merchan- 
dize ; while others suppose him to have been the God who presided over the 
thoughts of mankind, and thus account for the fickleness and versatility 
which were his characteristics. 

61 Remainder of thy days.] — Ver. 415,416. Gower gives the follow- 
ing quaint translation of these lines : — 

1 She ended. Farewell, good old soul, said I ; 
Maist thou spend all thy old dayes merrily.' 

62 Ilus.] — Ver. 420. He was the great grandson of Dardanus, and built 
a considerable part of the city of Troy. 

63 The armed Minerva.] — Ver. 421. This statue was called the ' Pal- 
ladium. ' It was supposed to have fallen from Heaven, and being de- 
posited in Troy, was brought thence to Italy, as the poet here says, either 
by iEneas, Diomedes, or Ulysses ; though the credit of having so done is 
distinctly given by most writers to iEneas. By some it is described as a 
wooden statue of the Goddess, about three cubits high, holding in her 
right hand a pike, and in her left a distaff ; by others it is said to have 
been made of the bones of Pelops. It was deposited near the sacred fire, 
in the temple of Vesta, at Rome, 



230 THE FASTI ; [b. vi. 423—453. 

care. I saw the temple and the spot : they are still left to 
Troy; but Rome has the image of Pallas. Smintheus 64 is 
consulted, and in the gloom of a shady grove he utters these 
words, with a voice that never deceives : — " Preserve the God- 
dess that comes from the skies, and ye will preserve your 
city : with herself, she will transfer the empire of the place." 
Ilus preserves her, and keeps her shut up in the heights of his 
citadel, and the care of her descends to his son Laomedon, 
Badly guarded was she under Priam ; thus wished she that it 
should be, from the time when her beauty was impugned by 
the judgment of his son. Either the descendant of Adrastus, 65 
or Ulysses, skilled in theft, or else the pious iEneas, is 
said to have carried her away : the perpetrator of the deed is 
unknown ; the image itself is Roman ; Vesta protects her, 
because she watches all things with her unceasing light. Oh ! 
how great was the dread of the Senators, at the time when the 
temple o/* Vesta was burned, and she herself was almost over- 
whelmed by her own ruins ! The sacred fires were burning 
with the accursed ones ; and the sacrilegious flames were min- 
gling with the pious. Her priestesses, astounded, were weep- 
ing with dishevelled locks : their very fear had deprived their 
bodies of strength. Metellus flies forward into the midst, and, 
with a loud voice, he cries, " Haste to the rescue ! tears afford 
no help. Remove the pledges of destiny with your virgin 
hands ! By the hand, and not by vows, must they be rescued. 
Woe is me! Do ye hesitate?" 66 says he. He saw that they 
were hesitating, and that in their dismay they had fallen down 
on their knees. He takes up some water, and, raising his 
hands, he says, " Forgive me, ye holy things ! Though a man, 
I will enter the shrines which ought not by man to be entered. 
If this be a crime, then full upon me fall the penalty of my 
sin, and at the cost of my life let Rome be redeemed." He 

64 Smintheus."] — Ver. 425. This was an epithet of Apollo, derived 
either from i Sminthus,' a village near Troy, or from ' Sminthus/ or 
1 Sminthea,' the Phrygian name for a mouse or rat ; which, at the inter- 
cession of his priest Chryses, when his gardens and orchards were much 
infested hy them, he had driven away and extirpated. 

65 Descendant of Adrastus.'] — Ver. 433. Diomedes, the son of Tydeus 
by Deiphyle, the daughter of Adrastus, King of Argos. 

56 Do ye hesitate ?] — Ver. 447, 448. Gower thus renders these lines : — 
1 O heavens ! D'ye stand ? Them in a stam he sees, 
And in amazement fall'n upon their knees. 1 



b. vi. 453—477.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 231 

said, and he burst in. The Goddess, carried off, approved of 
the deed; and by the devotedness of her Priest 67 was she saved. 
Now, happily do ye glow, ye sacred fires, under Csesar. Now 
the fire both is, and will be, upon Ilian shrines ; and while he 
is our chief, no priestess will be told of as having defiled her 
fillets, or will be buried alive in the earth. Thus perishes the un- 
chaste one, 68 inasmuch as she against whom she has sinned is 
heaped upon her; for the Earth and Vesta are the same deity. 

On this day did Brutus gain a surname from the Callaican 
foe, 69 and stain with blood the Spanish soil. Sometimes, for- 
sooth, is sorrow mixed with rejoicings ; lest the festal day 
should delight the people to their very hearts' content, and 
leave nothing for them to desire. Crassus, near the Euphrates, 
lost his eagles, his son, and his soldiers ; and, last of all, was 
himself consigned to death. " Parthian ! why dost thou exult? " 
said the Goddess. " Those standards thou shalt restore, and 
there shall be an avenger to take satisfaction for the death of 
Crassus." But as soon as the violets are taken off from the 
long-eared asses, and the rough millstones grind the grain of 
Ceres, the mariner, sitting in his bark, says, "We shall see 
the Dolphin, 70 when the damp night, having chased away the 
day, shall have set in." 

Now, Phrygian Tithonus, thou complainest that thou art de- 
serted by thy bride, and the watchful light-bearing star of the 
mom comes forth from the eastern waves. Go in procession, 
good matrons, — the Matralia is your festival, — and offer the 
yellow cakes to the Theb an Goddess. 71 There is an open space ad- 

67 Devotedness of her Priest. ] — Ver. 454. Metellus lost his sight in 
the flames : in consequence of which he was allowed to come to the 
Senate-house in a chariot (an honour never before bestowed on any one), 
and a statue was erected to him in the Capitol. 

68 The unchaste one.'] — Ver. 459. Allusion is here made to the punish- 
ment of being buried alive, which was awarded to the Vestal who was 
found guilty of a violation of her vows of chastity. 

69 Callaican foe, ,] — Ver. 461. On the day of the Vestalia, D. Junius 
Brutus overcame the Callaici, a people of the north-west of Spain, whose 
chief city was Calle, now Oporto, on the river Durius, now Douro. 

7° The Dolphin.]— -Ver. 471. On the 4th of the Ides of June, the 
day after the Vestalia, the Dolphin rises in the evening. The termination 
of the festival is signified by the garlands being taken off the asses, and 
their being set to work again at turning the mill-stones. 

n Theban Goddess.]— Ver. 476. The Goddess Mater Matuta is here 
identified by the poet with Ino, daughter of Cadmus, the founder of 



232 THE FASTI ; [b. vi. 477—500. 

joining to the bridges and the great Circus, which derives its 
name from an ox placed there. Here, on this morn, they say 
that the sceptred hands of Servius gave a temple 72 to Mother 
Matuta. As to what Goddess she is, why she keeps hand- 
maidens afar from the thresholds of her temple (for she does 
keep them away), and why she requires the toasted cakes, 
Bacchus, with thy hair crowned with clusters and wreathed 
with ivy, if this family be thine, do thou guide the course of 
my bark. Through Jove's compliance with her request, Semele 
had been consumed ; Ino received thee, O child, and carefully 
reared thee with her best attention. Juno was enraged, be- 
cause she was bringing up the child that was snatched from 
the womb of a concubine of Jove. But, in good truth, he was the 
offspring of her sister. 73 On this account, Athamas is haunted 
by the Furies and by false imaginings, and thou diest, infant 
Learchus, by the hand of thy father. The sorrowing mother 
had now buried the corpse of Learchus, and had performed all 
the rites due to the dismal pile. She, too, bounds forward just 
as she is, with her locks torn in funereal woe, and snatches thee, 
Melicerta, from thy cradle. There is a spot 74 contracted within 
a narrow compass, — two seas it dashes back, and one tract 
of land is beaten by two tides. Thither she comes, embracing 
her son in her maniac arms, and plunges him, along with her- 
self, from the high summit of ike cliff into the deep. Un- 
harmed, Panope 75 and her hundred sisters receive them, and 

Thebes, who was deified under the name of Leucothea. Reference has 
been already made to the story of Ino and Melicerta, and Helle and 
Phryxus, in Book ii. 1. 628, and Book iii. 1. 859. 

72 Gave a temple.'] — Ver. 480. The poet says that Servius Tullius 
built the temple of Mater Matuta, in the Forum Boarium, or Ox Market, 
which was near the Palatine bridge and the Circus Maximus. There was 
a brazen statue of a bull in this market-place. 

73 Offspring of her sister.] — Ver. 487, 488. Gower thus renders these 
lines : — 

' Vex'd Juno swell'd, that she, the strumpet gone, 
Should muse her brat ; yet 'twas her sister's sonne.' 

74 There is a spot.] — Ver. 495. The poet here describes the Isthmus 
of Corinth, whence Ino plunged into the sea. It was very narrow, the 
space between the iEgean and Ionian seas not being more than about six 
miles in width. 

75 Panope.] — Ver. 499. She was the daughter of Nereus and Doris, 
and sister of the Nereids. 



b. vi. 500—522.] OB, CALENDAR OF OVID. 233 

with a gently gliding pace they bear them through their 
realms. Not yet does Leucothoe — not yet does that boy 
Palaemon 76 possess the mouth of Tiber, abounding with its 
eddies. There was a sacred grove : whether it is called the 
Grove of Semele, or of Stimula, 77 is a matter of doubt ; they 
say that the Bacchanals 78 of Ausonia inhabited it. Of these, 
Ino enquires what nation that is ? She hears that they are 
Arcadians, and that Evander wields the sceptre of the place. 
Concealing her divinity, Juno, the daughter of Saturn, insi- 
diously urges on the Latian Bacchanals by deceiving words: — 
" 0, people — too credulous, 79 and utterly mad ! This stranger 
comes, no friend to our choirs. By fraud she seeks and en- 
deavours to become acquainted with the ceremonial of our 
rites ; she has with her a pledge by which she can pay the 
penalty." Hardly has she ceased ; the Bacchanals fill the air 
with their howlings, their locks streaming down their shoul- 
ders ; they lay hands upon her, and strive to tear away the 
babe ; she invokes those Gods whom, as yet, a stranger, she 
knows not. "Ye Gods, and ye men of this place, assist a 
mother in her distress !" Her cries re-echo among the neigh- 
bouring crags of the Aventine. The hero of (Eta 80 had just 
driven to the bank of the river his Iberian cows ; he hears 
her, and in haste pursues his way towards the sounds. At 
the approach of Hercules, those who, but a moment before, 
were preparing to offer violence, turn their cowardly backs 

76 Palamon.] — Ven 501. As Ino, when deified, received the names of 
Leucothoe and Matuta, so was Melicerta called by the Greeks, Palaemon, 
by the Latins, Portunus. 

77 Stimula.'] — Ver. 503. There was a Goddess of this name, in whose 
grove the orgies of Bacchus were celebrated, until they were discontinued 
by order of the Senate, on account of the gross irregularities discovered 

1 to have been committed there. 

78 The Bacchanals.] — Ver. 504. Literally, the ' Maenades,' or * frantic' 
votaries of Bacchus. 

79 Too credulous.]— .Ver. 509, 510. Gower gives the following trans- 
lation of these lines : — 

' O simple souls ! O senselesse folk and blind ! 
D'ye take this vagrant huzzie for your friend ?' 

80 The hero of (Eta.]— Ver. 519. Hercules is so called here prolep- 
terally, or by anticipation, because he ordered his body to be burned, after 
his decease, on Mount (Eta, in Thessaly. At the period mentioned in the 
text, he was driving the oxen which he had taken from Geryon, King of 
Iberia, or Spain. 



234 THE FASTI ; [b. vi. 522-548. 

in womanish flight. He says, "What seekest thou in this 
spot, aunt of Bacchus?" for he had recognized her: "Does 
the same Deity that harasses me, harass thee also?" Partly 
she informs him ; 81 as to some part of her story, the presence 
of her son is a check upon her, and she is ashamed that in her 
frenzy she has resorted to crime. Fame, swift as she is, flies 
about with flapping wings ; and ofttimes, Ino, is thy name on 
her lips. As the guest of Carmentis, thou art said to have en- 
tered a faithful abode, and to have broken thy protracted fast. 
The priestess of Tegeeea 82 is said to have given to thee cakes 
hastily made with her own hand, and baked upon a hurried 
hearth. And so at the present day, on the festival of the 
Matralia, are cakes pleasing to her ; this rustic courtesy was 
more pleasing than all the appliances of art. " Now," she says, 
" do thou, a prophetess, unseal the decrees of destiny as thou 
mayst be pleased ; add this favour, I pray, to thy hospitable 
reception of me." But little delay is there : the prophetess 
receives the inspiration of the Deities of the heavens, and be- 
comes filled with the God throughout her entire soul. On a 
sudden, scarcely could you recognize her, so much more holy, 
and so much more stately did she seem than the moment be- 
fore. " Tidings of joy will I sing; rejoice, Ino, that thou 
hast ended thy toils," she said, "and ever be present, propi- 
tious to this nation ! A Deity of the ocean shalt thou be : the 
deep, too, shall receive thy son ; amid our seas take ye both 
another name. Leucothoe shalt thou be called by the Greeks; 
Matuta by our nation ; thy son shall have universal sway over 
the harbours. 83 Him whom we shall call Portunus, his own 
tongue shall call Paleemon. Go ye both, I pray, propitious 

31 She informs him.'] — Ver. 525, 526. Gower thus renders these 
lines — 

' Part tells she ; part the presence of her sonne 
Withheld. She's sham'd for those mad tricks were done.' 

82 Priestess of Tegecsa.'] — Ver. 531 — 534. The following is Gower's 
translation — 

' The holy woman made a fire in hast, 
And bak'd a bisket for her quick repast. 
Hence in her matrals bake they biskets dry ; 
No art pleas'd her like that tight houswifry.' 

83 Over the harbours. ] — Ver. 546. The poet here implies that Meli- 
certa received his name ' Portunus' from the harbours, ' portus/ which he 
was to take under his protection. 



B . vi. 548—569.] OB, CALENDAR OF OYIB. 235 

to these our lands." They nodded their assent. Truth at- 
tended her promise : they ended their labours : they changed 
their names : the one is a God, the other a Goddess. You en- 
quire why she forbids the handmaids to approach ; she hates 
them, and if she permits me, I will sing the origin of her hate. 
Daughter of Cadmus, 84 one of thy female servants was wont 
ofttimes to submit to the embraces of thy husband. The faith- 
less Athamas wooed her by stealth. From her he learned that 
grain subjected to the fire was given out to the husbandmen. 
The queen herself denied that she did this, but rumour has given 
reception to the story ; this is the reason why this class of 
servants are objects of her hatred. But let not the fond 
mother offer up to her, prayers for her own family ; she her- 
self seems to have been but an unhappy parent. With more 
fortunate results, ye will entrust to her the offspring of another ; 
she was more beneficial to Bacchus than she was to her own 
children. It is reported that this Goddess said to thee, Ru- 
tilius, 85 " Whither dost thou hasten on my festival ? A Consul, 
thou shalt fall, by the hand of the Marsian foe." The event 
accorded with her words ; and the empurpled stream of Tole- 
nus ran with his waters mingled with gore. The next year 
came : on the same morn 86 the slaughter of Didius 87 redoubled 
the success of the foe. The same day 88 is thine, Fortune; 89 

84 Daughter of Cadmus.] — Ver, 553. This appears to be a very absurd 
story. Plutarch tells us that a female servant used to be admitted into 
her temple, but only for the purpose of being soundly flogged by the ma- 
trons. He adds, that no iEtolian was admitted into the temple of Leu- 
cothea at Chronea, as the favorite of Athamas was an iEtolian by birth. 

85 Rutilius.] — Ver. 563. On the day of the Matralia, in the Marsian 
or Social war, the Consul P. Rutilius Lupus was slain near the Tolenus, 
a river flowing from the Marsian into the Sabine territory. 

86 On the same morn.'] — Ver. 567. * Pallantide.' Literally, l the kins- 
woman of Pallas;' an epithet of Aurora, the Goddess of the Morning, 
who was the cousin of Pallas, one of the Titans. 

87 Didius, ,] — Ver. 568. Appian informs us that Didius was Praetor 
during the Marsian or Social war ; but we have no record of his defeat and 
death, which are probably here referred to. 

88 The same day.] — Ver. 569, 570. Gower thus quaintly translates 
these lines — 

* Thine, Fortune, is this day, this place, this founder. 
But who's that statue wrapt up in a gown there ? ' 
In good truth, the translator was not a respecter even of rhyme on all oc- 
casions ! 

89 O Fortune.]— -Ver. 569. On the same day with the temple of 



236 THE FASTI ; [b. vi. 5G9-— 598. 

the same the builder ; the same the site. But who is this that 
lies hid beneath the garments 90 covering him? It is Servius : 
for this much is agreed upon ; but various reasons are assigned 
for his concealment, and they leave me uncertain in my own 
mind. While the Goddess timidly confesses her stolen loves, 
and blushes that she, a daughter of heaven, had submitted to 
the embrace of a mortal, for she was inflamed with love, being 
seized with a violent passion for the king, and in the case of 
this man alone she proved herself not blind. — By night she was 
wont to enter his abode through a little window, from which 
circumstance the gate bears the name of Fenestella. 91 Now is she 
ashamed, and she covers with a veil those beloved features, 
and the face of the king is hidden by many a gown. Or is it 
rather the truth, that after the death of Tullius the people 
were shocked by the death of their peaceful chief? No 
bounds were then set to their grief ; at sight of his statue 
their sorrow increased, until they concealed it by putting 
gowns over it. The third reason must be sung by me in a 
wider space ; yet shall I keep my steeds within the narrowest 
limits as I drive. Tullia having effected her marriage, the 
wages of iniquity, was wont to urge her lord with these words : 
" What boots it that we are equally matched in guilt, thou, 
with the murder of my sister, and I, with the blood of thy 
brother, if now a life of piety contents us ? My husband and 
thy wife should both have lived, if we were to dare no greater 
crime than this ? The life and the kingdom of my father I 
present to thee as my dowry ; if thou art a man, go and exact 
the benefits of my dower, that I tell thee of. Crime is worthy 
of a king ; »slay thy father-in-law, and seize the throne, and 
do thou stain both our hands with my father's blood." Goaded 
on by such words, he, a private person, had now taken. his seat 
on the lofty throne: in amazement,, the multitude takes to arms. 

Matuta, by the same person, Servius Tullius, and in the same place, the 
Forum Boarium, or ox-market, the temple of Fortuna Virilis was dedicated. 

90 Beneath the garments J\ — Ver. 570. We are told by Dionysius that 
this statue was of wood gilt, and that two togas were thrown over it. 
Varro speaks of the statue thus covered, as though it had been that of the 
Goddess herself. 

91 Fenestella.'] — Ver. 578. He tells us that the Goddess Fortuna used to 
pay her nightly visits to Servius through a window, and that, in comme- 
moration thereof, one of the gates of the city was called ' Porta Fenes- 
tella/ from the word ' fenestra/ ' a window.' 



B. vi. 599-629.] OH, CALEXDAE OF OYID. ■ 237 

Bloodshed and slaughter are the consequence, and feeble 
age is overpowered. The son-in-law, Tarquinius Superbus, 
wields the sceptre that he has won from his father-in-law. 
The king himself, slain at the foot of the Esquilise, where his 
palace was, fell, weltering in his blood, on the hard ground. 
His daughter, about to enter the home of her father, was 
passing in her chariot, lofty and impudent, through the 
middle of the street. The charioteer, soon as he beheld the 
body, bursting into tears, stopped short ; with such words as 
these did she reproach him : "Are you going on? 92 or are you 
awaiting the bitter reward of your affection ? Drive, I tell 
you, the wheels over his very face, whether they will go or 
not. 55 A sure evidence of this deed, from her the street was 
called "The Accursed," 93 and that transaction is thereby im- 
pressed with a lasting mark. Yet, after this, she dared to 
touch the temple that was the memorial of her father : won- 
ders, truly, but still facts, do I relate. There was a statue, 
the resemblance of Tullius, sitting on a throne ; this is said, 
with its hands, to have covered its eyes ; and a voice was heard, 
" Cover ye my countenance, that it behold not the impious 
face of my daughter." He was covered with the garment pre- 
sented to him ; Fortune forbade it to be removed, and thus 
from her temple did she speak : " That day, on which, with 
unveiled features, Servius shall first be uncovered, shall be the 
first of the departure from shame." Forbear, ye matrons, to 
touch the forbidden garments ; it is enough to utter prayers 
with the voice of worship ; and may he who was the seventh 
king 94 in our city, ever keep his head concealed in the Roman 
garb. This temple was burned by fire ; yet did the flames 
spare that statue ; Mulciber himself gave his aid to his son. 
For Vulcan was the Father of Tullius ; Ocrisia was his mother, 
a woman of Corniculum, 95 remarkable for her beauty. Her, 

92 Going on.'] — Yer. 607, 603. Gower thus translates these lines — 

' Drive on, or I'll pay you for your foolish zeal ; 
Run o'er, I say, his carkasse with the wheel/ 

93 Accursed.']— Ver. 609. Dionysius says, that before this tragic oc- 
currence, that street or road was called ' the Happy ; ' Livy calls it the 
1 Virbian,' and Festus ' the Orbian way.' 

94 The seventh king.] — Ver. 624. That is to say, by reckoning, as one 
of the kings, Titus Tatius the Sabine, who reigned jointly with Romulus. 

95 Corniculum.] — Ver. 628. This was a town in the Latian territory, 
which was taken by the Romans, on which occasion Ocrisia, the mother of 
Servius Tullius, became a captive. 



238 THE FASTI; [b. vi. 629—652. 

Tanaquil, having duly performed the sacred rites, ordered, in 
company with herself, to pour the wine on the decorated altar. 
Here among the ashes either was, or seemed to be, a form of 
obscene shape ; but such it really was. Being ordered so to do, 
the captive submits to its embraces ; conceivedby her, Servius has 
the origin of his birth from heaven. His father afforded the 
proof, at the time when he touched his head with the gleaming 
lire, and a flame, rising to a point, blazed upon his locks. 

Thee, too, Concord, 96 does Livia enshrine in a gorgeous 
temple, thee, whom she bestowed upon her beloved hus- 
band. But know, generations to come, that where the 
portico of Livia now is, once stood the building of an immense 
house. One house was the work of a whole city ; and it 
occupied a space, a smaller than which many towns contain 
within their walls. This was levelled with the ground, under 
no accusation of one aiming at sovereign power, but because, 
by its gorgeousness, it was deemed injurious to public virtue. 
Caesar had the moral courage to level so vast a pile of build- 
ings ; and himself, the heir to it, to lose so much property of 
his own. Thus is his Censorship discharged, and thus is an 
example given ; when the assertor of morality himself practises 
that which he enjoins on others. 

There is no mark of distinction on the succeeding day which 
I am able to mention. 

On the Ides a temple was given to unconquered Jove. 
And now I am commanded to tell you of the lesser Quin- 
quatrus ; 9 ' Minerva, fAcwwith thy auburn locks, assist myun- 

96 O Concord.']— -Ver. 637. On the 3rd of the Ides of June, Livia 
dedicated a temple to Concord, in token of the harmony which had 
always subsisted between her and her husband Augustus. It was near 
the ' Livise Porticus,' which was built on the site of the former palace of 
Vedius Pollio. This he had bequeathed to Augustus ; but it was of such 
immense extent, and its splendour was supposed to furnish so bad a prece- 
dent, that Augustus ordered it to be razed to the ground. 

97 Quinguatrus.~\ — Ver. 651. On the Ides of June a temple had been 
dedicated to Jupiter, and on that day the Lesser Quinquatrus or Quinqua- 
tria were celebrated. It is doubtful whether ' Invictus,' ' unconquered,' 
is here a mere supplementary epithet of Jupiter, or whether the temple 
had been dedicated to him with that ' cognomen 7 or ' surname/ No 
other writer mentions any such ' cognomen.' The greater ' quinquatria' 
were on the 14th of the Calends of April. They are described in Book iii. 
1. 809. Gower thus renders the two preceding lines — 

1 Two following days are blank. To Jove invicted 
Upon the Ides a chapell was addicted.' 



b. vi. 652—675.] OR, CALENDAR OF OYID. 239 

dertaking. Why does the strolling piper 98 rove about all the 
city? What mean the masks, what the long flowing hair? 
Thus I spoke. Thus said Tritonia, having laid aside her lance 
(would that 1 could repeat exactly the words of the learned 
Goddess) : "In the times of your forefathers of old, the piper 
was much employed, and was always held in high estimation. 
The piper used to sound his notes in the temples, and at the 
games ; at the sorrowful funerals the piper used to sound. 
His toil was then sweetened by reward ; but a time followed," 
which suddenly put an end to the employment of the Grecian 
art. 1 Add, too, the fact, that the iEdile had ordered that there 
should be but ten musicians who should attend the funeral 
procession. They quit the city in self-imposed exile, and they 
retire to Tibur. The hollow pipe is missed on the stage, it is 
missed at the altars ; no dirge now escorts the last obsequies. 
A certain man, h imself worthy of any rank, had been a slave at 
Tibur, 2 but after a length of time he had become free. He pre- 
pares a repast at his farm, and invites the musical band; they as- 
semble at the festive banquet. 3 Twas now night, and their sight 
and their eyes and their souls were drenched with wine, when a 
messenger came with a speech previously arranged, and thus he 

9S The strolling piper.] — Ver. 653, 654. Gower gives the following 
translation — 

! Why do the waits w T alk all about the town ? 
Why do they mask disguis'd ? What means the gown ? ' 
99 A time followed.'] — Ver. 661. The time which the poet here refers 
to was when Appius Claudius was Censor, a.u.c. 443, by whom the pipers, 
or flute-players, were prohibited from eating in the temple of Jupiter. 
He had previously restricted the number of them which should accom- 
pany funerals to ten. 

1 Grecian art.] — Ver. 662. Ovid is here mistaken in ascribing the in- 
vention of the flute or fife to Greece. The Romans received the use of 
the flute from Asia ; whereas the ' Cithara,' or lyre, was the national 
music of Greece. Most of the MSS. read ' grata?/ which would, if 
adopted, alter the passage to the ' pleasing art,' which, most probably, is 
the correct reading. It must, however, be remembered, that the poet is 
here consistent with the sequel, in which he ascribes the invention of the 
' Tibia' to Minerva or Pallas, who was originally a Grecian deity. 

2 At Tibur.]— Ver. 669, 670. Livy says that the stratagem here re- 
lated was practised by the Government of Tibur, at the request of envoys 
sent thither from Rome. Gower thus renders these lines : — 

' At Tybur liv'd a libertine, in's 'art 
A long time free, and one of great desert.' _ 



240 THE FASTI; [ B . vi. 675—691. 

said : ' Why delayest thou to put an end to the banquet ? 
the giver of thy freedom 3 is at hand. There is no delay ; 4 the 
guests move their limbs staggering under the strong wine ; 
their stumbling feet now stand, now give way. But the master 
of the house said, c Depart ye/ and lifted them into a cart 
as they yet lingered ; with broad hurdles was the cart fenced 
round, 5 The late hour, the jolting, and the wine, all bring on 
sleep, and the drunken crew think that they are going back to 
Tibur. And now, the cart had entered the Roman city through 
the Esquilise, and in the morning it was standing in the middle 
of the Forum. Plautius, that he may deceive the Senate 
both as to their appearance and numbers, orders their faces to 
be covered with masks. He also puts among them others, 
and, that the band of female musicians may increase this 
multitude, he orders them to go in long garments, that so 
those who had returned might be thoroughly concealed, 
lest, by chance, they should be remarked to have come back 
contrary to the commands 6 of his colleague. The thing was 

3 Thy freedom.] — Ver. 676. 'Vindicta' is, literally, the rod which 
the Victor laid on the head of the slave about to receive his freedom. 

4 There is no delay.] — Ver. 677 — 682. The following is Gower's 
comical translation of these lines : — 

i Away all staggering hastily do pack : 
Their legs unruly large indentures make. 
Away, the master cry'd: and as they slack'd, 
Into a matted waggon all he pack'd. 
Time, wine, and motion sleep provok'd. They thought, 
All fox'd, the cart had them to Tybur brought/ 
Of course the indentures made by their legs were bipartite. 

5 Fenced roiind.~] — Ver. 680. Varro says that a 'plaustrum' was an 
open cart ; and it seems to he the opinion of Neapolis, a very intelligent 
commentator, that the ' sirpea' was a hurdle fence round the cart, and 
not an awning over it. At the present day, carts are sometimes to be 
seen in the country, fitted up in this way for the safe conveyance of pigs 
and sheep. The object of putting up the hurdles in the cart was clearly 
to prevent the pipers from recognizing the face of the country, if any of 
them should chance to wake, and thus prematurely discover the trick 
that was being played on them. 

Contrary to the commands,'] — Ver. 690. Though the pipers had 
voluntarily withdrawn from Rome, it is not unlikely that Claudius and 
the senators had determined that they should not return, after having 
once abandoned their home and their duties as citizens. On the other 
hand, it seems that C. Plautius, the other censor and the colleague of 
Appius, adopted the views of those who wished for their return, and 
having succeeded in his stratagem, used his best endeavours to conceal it 
from his colleague and the Senate. 



B. vi. 690— 717.] OE, CALEKDAR Or OYID. 241 

approved of ; and ever since it has been allowed by usage to 
wear strange dresses on the Ides, and to chant merry sayings 
to the old-fashioned airs.' When she had given me this in- 
formation, I said, f It still remains for me to learn why that 
day is called Quinquatrus?' ' March,' says she, ' keeps a 
festival of mine by that name, and this kind of people are in 
the number of my inventions. I was the first to cause the 
long pipe to give forth its sounds, the box-wood having been 
first bored in a few holes. The melody pleased me ; but in 
the clear waters that reflected my face, I saw the swelling out 
of my virgin cheeks.' c The art is not worth the penalty to 
me,' I cried ; c farewell! my pipe.' The rivers bank received 
it as I threw it away. A Satyr 7 having found it, is at first 
struck with wonder, and knows not its use ; but he perceives 
that when blown into it emits a sound ; and at one moment, he 
lets forth the air with his fingers, at another, he stops it. And 
now among the Nymphs he is vain of his new-found art. 
He challenged even Phoebus ; Phoebus being victor, he was 
hung up ; and his mangled limbs were stripped of their 
skin. Yet I am the inventress and the originator of this 
melody ; this is the reason why that branch of art observes 
my festive days." 

The third day 8 shall come, on which thou, Thyene of Do- 
dona, shalt stand conspicuous on the forehead of the Bull of 
Agenor's daughter. This is the day on which thou, Tiber, 
dost roll to the deep, along thy Etrurian streams, the cleans- 
ings of the shrine of Vesta. 

If there is any dependence at all on the winds, ye mariners, 
spread your canvass to Zephyrus : to-morrow he shall come 
propitious, over your waves. 

But when the parent of the Heliades 9 shall have plunged his 

7 A Satyr.~\~Ver. 703. This was Marsyas, who, in his exultation, 
challenged Apollo to a musical contest. The God being successful, flayed 
his antagonist alive ; and the tears which were shed by the rural Deities 
on his death, formed the river of Phrygia, known by his name. 

8 The third day.]— -Ver. 711. On the 17th of the Calends of July 
the Hyades rise acronychally. Thyene was the name of one of them. 
As to the cleansing of the temple of Vesta, see line 287 of this Book. 

9 Heliades.] — Ver. 717. Literally, * the daughters of the sun.' They 
were the sisters of Phaeton. Hyrieus is mentioned in the 5th Book, L 
499. He was the father of Orion, which Constellation, rises acronychally 
on the 15th of the Calends of July. 

R 



242 THE FASTI; [b. vi. 717— 740. 

beams in the waves, and the bright stars shall gird the two 
extremities of the skies, .the son of Hyrieus shall raise from the 
ground his strong shoulders ; on the succeeding night, the 
Dolphin will be visible. In truth, he once had seen the Volsci 
and the iEqui routed on thy plains, land of Algidus ; from 
which circumstance, Tubertus Posthumus, 10 thou wast carried, 
renowned by a triumph over thy neighbouring foes, by snow- 
white steeds. 

Now six days and as many more of the month are remaining ; 
and to this number add one day. The sun leaves Gemini, 11 
and the sign of the Crab grows ruddy with his light: on 
this day Pallas began to be worshipped on the heights of the 
Aventine. 

Now, Laomedon, thy daughter-in-law 12 rises, and rising, dis- 
pels the night, and the damp rime departs from the meadows : 
then a temple is said to have been given to Summanus, 13 who- 
ever he may chance to be, at that season when thou, Pyrrhus, 
wast an object of dread to the Romans. 

When Galatea 14 shall have received her, too, in the waves of 
her sire, and the earth shall be full of rest, undisturbed with 
care; then rises from the earth the youth who was smitten by 
the weapons of his grandsire, and extends his hands, wreathed 
with two snakes. Well known is the passion of Phaedra — well 
known the injustice of Theseus : he, in his credulity, devoted 
to destruction his own son. The youth who, not with impu- 
nity, adhered to virtue, is on his way to Trsezene ; a bull 

10 Tubertus Posthumus.'] — Ver. 724-5. In his Dictatorship, he tri- 
umphed after defeating the Volsci and ^Equi at Algidus, a town of Latium. 
Gower gives the following version of these lines : — 

* Whose starres the Volsci and the Equi saw 
Yerwhile expelTd the plains of Algida/ 

11 Leaves Gemini.] — Ver. 727. On the 13th of the Calends of July, 
the sun enters Cancer, the Crab ; on which day a temple was dedicated 
to Minerva on the Aventine Hill. 

12 Thy daughter-in-law.]. — Ver. 729. Aurora was fabled to be married 
to Tithonus, the son of Laomedon. 

13 Summanus.] — Ver. 731. The poet does not seem to know what 
Deity is meant by this name. He is generally supposed to have been 
the same with Pluto, and to have received this name as being ' summus 
manium/ 'the chief of the spirits/ Varro says that the worship of 
this Deity was instituted by Tatius, the Sabine. 

14 Galatea.]— Ver. 733. On the night of the 13th of the Calends of 
July the Constellation Ophiuchus rises. Galatea was a sea-nymph, one of 
the daughters of Nereus and Doris. 



B . vi. "40—767.] OK, CALENDAR OP OVID. 243 

cleaves with his breast the opposing waters ; the startled 
horses are frightened ; and, in vain held in, they drag their 
master over the crags and hard rocks. Hippolytus fell from 
his chariot, and was hurried along by the draggling reins, 
with his body all torn ; and he yielded up his life, to the 
great indignation of Diana. " There is no cause for thy sorrow," 
says the son of Coronis, 15 " for I will restore life to the virtuous 
youth, without a wound being left on him, and his sad destiny 
shall give way to my art." Forthwith he brings out the herbs 
from his ivory cabinet ; they had formerly benefited the manes 
of Glaucus : 16 ' tivas at that time when the augur stooped to 
the examination of herbs, and the snake experienced the bene- 
fit of the remedy that was given by a snake. Thrice did he 
touch his breast ; thrice did he repeat the healing charms ; the 
other raised from the ground his head, as it lay there. A 
sacred grove, and Dictymna, in the recesses of her retreat, 
shelters him : he is Virbius, in the lake of Aricia. 17 But Cly- 
menus and Clotho take it amiss ; the one, that her threads are 
unspun, the other, that the privileges of his kingdom are vio- 
lated. Jupiter, taking alarm at the precedent, aimed his bolt 
against him, who applied the aid of an art too profound. Phoebus, 
thou didst complain. He is a God ; be appeased with thy sire : 
for thy sake, he himself does that very thing which he forbids 
to be done ! 

I would not wish thee, Csesar, to move thy standards, 
though to victory thou shouldst hasten, if the auspices forbid. 
Flaminius, and the shores of Thrasymenus, 18 can attest to thee 
that the just Gods give many intimations by birds. If thou en- 

15 Son of Coronis.'] — Ver. 746. ^Esculapius was the son of Apollo and 
Coronis, and was raised to the Constellations under the name of Ophiuchus, 
the Serpent Bearer, in allusion to his strangling the serpent which Juno 
had placed in his cradle. 

16 Glaucus.] — Ver. 750. He was the son of Minos, and was restored 
to life by iEsculapius. It is said that while iEsculapius was considering 
how he might effect that object, a serpent came in his way, which he 
killed, on which another serpent brought a herb in his mouth, and having 
touched the head of the dead one, restored him to life. With this herb 
iEsculapius effected his most wonderful cures. 

17 Lake of Aricia.] — Ver. 756. See Book hi. 1. 263. Clymenus, in the 
next line, is an epithet of Pluto. 

18 Thrasymenus.]— Ver. 765. On the 9th of the Calends of July, the 
Consul Q. Flaminius was defeated and slain at Lake Thrasymenus, having 
fought contrary to the warnings of the auspices. 

B2 



244 THE FASTI ; [ B . vi. 767—784, 

quirest the season of rashness, on which occurred the ancient 
defeat, it was the eighth day from the end of the month. 

More fortunate is the next day. Masinissa 19 then con- 
quers Syphax, and by his own weapons does Hasdrubal 20 
himself fall. Time rolls on, and with noiseless years do we 
reach old age: the days flee away with no rein to check them. 
How quickly have arrived the honours of the Goddess of 
Chance ; 21 after some days, June will be no more. Go, ye 
Quirites, and joyfully throng to the bold Goddess ; on the 
banks of the Tiber she possesses an abode, the gift of a king. 
Some of you, go on foot; some run down 22 the stream, too, in 
the rapid skiff ; and be not ashamed to return home intoxi- 
cated. Ye boats, crowned with garlands, bring the jovial troops 
of youths, and let plenty of wine be drunk in the midst of 
your voyage ! The commonalty worship her, because he who 
built this temple is said to have been one of the commonalty, 
and, from an humble rank, to have wielded the eceptre. She is 
also suited for slaves ; because Tullius, born of a bond-woman, 
erected the neighbouring temple to the fickle Goddess. 

19 Masinissa.'] — Ver. 769. On the 8th of the Calends of July, Syphax, 
king of Numidia, was defeated by Caius Laelius and Masinissa, king of 
the Massyli. Cyrta, his capital, was captured, and his wife and family 
were made prisoners. 

20 Hasdrubal.] — Ver. 770. The brother of Hannibal is probably here 
meant. He was defeated by the Roman Consuls, M. Livius Salinator and 
C. Claudius Nero, in a battle on the banks of the Metauras. There was 
also another Hasdrubal, who was an ally of Syphax. By ' his own wea- 
pons ? an ambuscade is most probably meant. 

21 The Goddess of Chance.] — Ver. 773. It is not improbable that 
' Fortuna Fortis ' here means the same Goddess that is mentioned in Book 
iv. 1. 145, as ' Fortuna Virilis,' or ' manly Fortune/ Mr. Keightley sug^ 
gests that this appellation was probably given from a misapprehension of 
the meaning of ' Fortis.' That word appears to be the genitive singular 
of the substantive ' fors,' ' chance,' and not of the adjective ' fortis,' 
'brave,' or 'manly;' as a substitute for which latter word, very possibly 
by mistake, the epithet * virilis ' may have originated. 

22 Run down.] — Ver. 777. It is a matter of dispute on which side of 
the river stood the temple of Fors Fortuna. The meaning of ' decurrite ' 
throws no light upon it, for we may with equal propriety speak of running 
down with the tide, or running down the river, whether we intend to land 
on the opposite side, or on the same side as that on which we embarked. 
By the mention of the wine we may conclude that the Romans had their 
pic-nics as well as ourselves, and that this is one more illustration of the 
truth of the adage, that ' there is nothing new under the sun,' 



b. vi. 7S5 — 799 ] OR, CALENDAR OF OYII). 245 

Lo ! some one returning from the temple in the suburbs, 
far from sober, 23 utters to the stars some such words as these : 
"Now is thy belt concealed; and perhaps to-morrow it will be 
concealed ; afterwards, Orion, 24 it will be visible to me." Were 
he not intoxicated, he would say, as well, that the summer sol- 
stice would come on the same day. 

The next day arriving, the Lares received their temple ; 
here, where many a chaplet 25 is wrought by a skilful hand ; 
Jupiter Stator has the same time as the anniversary of his 
temple, which Romulus formerly built on the front of the Pa- 
latine Hill. 

As many days remain of the month as the Fates have names, 
on the day, when there was a temple, Quirinus, 26 erected in 
honour of thee in thy kingly robe. To-morrow 27 is the natal 
day for the Calends of Julius : Pierian maidens! 28 put the con- 
clusion to my undertaking. "Tell me, ye Pierian maids! who 

23 Far from sober. ,] — Ver. 785-90. Gower thus renders these lines — 

' Lo! now in troops scarce sober home they walk, 
When some starre-peeper with the starres doth talk. 
Your belt. Sir Orion, now you will not shew it ; 
Nor yet to-morrow ; but e'er long we'll view it. 
But, were his brain not pickled, he would say, 
The Summer solstice is upon that day.' 

24 Orion.]-— Ver. 788. On the 6th of the Calends of July the Belt of 
Orion rises heliacally. On the same day (the 26th of June), the poet tells 
us, is the Summer solstice. 

25 Many a chaplet.] — Ver. 792. It appears from this, that in the neigh- 
bourhood of the temple of Jupiter Stator was the shop of some famous 
seller of garlands. On the 5th of the Calends of July the temple of the 
Lares in the Forum, and that of Jupiter Stator vowed by Romulus, were 
dedicated. 

26 Quirinus.'] — Ver. 796. On the 4th of the Calends of July was the dedi- 
cation of the temple built to Romulus, or Quirinus, on the Quirinal hill. 

27 To-morrow.] — Ver. 797. This line is merely a circumlocution for 
1 this is the last day of June/ as the Calends of July were the first day of 
that month. Julius Caesar was born in the month of July, whence it re- 
ceived its name. 

28 Pierian maidens.] — Ver. 798. These were the Muses : their sta- 
tues were placed in a temple of Hercules, built by M. Fulvius Nobilior, 
in the Circus Flaminius. It was repaired by Marcius Philippus, who mar- 
ried the maternal aunt of Augustus, and, by her, was the father of Marcia, 
who is mentioned in the 802nd line. She clandestinely married Fabius 
Maximus ; on his discovery of the marriage, Augustus expressed great 
displeasure, on which the unhappy husband, after censuring his wife, put 
an end to his own existence. 



246 THE FASTI. [b. vi. 799— 816. 

placed you next to him, to whom, Juno, his conquered step- 
mother, offered her reluctant hands?" Thus I said; thus 
Clio answered — i( Thou beholdest a memorial of the illus- 
trious Philippus, from whom the chaste Marcia derives her 
birth. Marcia, a name derived from the religious Marcus, in 
whom her beauty is equal with her noble birth ; in her, too, 
her, beauty is equal to, and in accordance with her spirit. In 
her, are birth, beauty, and genius, united ; nor should' st thou 
think it so mean a thing that I praise her beauty ; in this 
respect, too, am I wont to praise the great Goddesses. The 
aunt of Ceesar was once the bride of this noble. thou glory ; 
thou woman worthy of that sacred house !" Thus Clio sang ; 
her learned sisters gave their assent ; Alcides, too, nodded his 
assent, and struck his lyre. 29 



If the new year 30 shall commence to be reckoned from the 
sacred rites of Janus, the month Quintilis will be so called by 
a wrong appellation. If you begin your Calends from the 
month of March, as they formerly were, then the months, 
taken in their order, will be consistent with their appellations. 

29 Struck his lyre.] — Ver. 811-12. Gower translates these lines — 

The learned nine applaud what Clio sang ; 

Alcides nodded, and the harp cried twang.' 
Thus Gower concludes his work with a translation fully as comical, and 
as nearly allied to the burlesque, as any of those most amusing versions 
which have been from time to time presented to the reader. 

30 If the new year.]— Yer. 813. The translation of these lines is added, 
because they are founff in some of the MSS. of this poem. They are, 
however, generally considered to be spurious ; but if genuine, they must 
have formed the commencement of a seventh Book of the Fasti ; see the 
remarks in the Life of the poet, in the Introduction. 



EKD OF THE EASTI. 



THE TRISTIA; 



OB, 



LAMENT OE OVID. 



BOOK THE FIRST. 



ELEGY I. 



The poet, in exile at Tomi, addresses his book, and recommends it, as it 
is about to visit the city of Rome, to appear there in the garb of an exile, 
telling it what answer to give to those who shall make inquiries after 
him. He also says what it is to plead by way of excuse, if his verses 
should appear inferior to his former productions. He tells it to avoid 
the royal abode, whence the lightnings had proceeded by which he 
had been prostrated. 

Without me, little book, you will visit the Roman City, 
whither it is not allowed your master to go ; but I do not envy 
your fortune. Go on your way, but unadorned, just as becomes 
the hook of an exile ; put on the fitting garb, unhappy one, 
of this season. Let not the hyacinth 1 array you in its purple 
tints ; that is not a colour suitable for mourning. Let not 
your title be inscribed in vermilion, 2 nor let your leaves be pre- 
pared with the oil of the cedar ; and do not wear whitened 

1 The hyacinth.'] — Ver. 5. ' Vaccinium' is by some writers considered 
to mean the hyacinth ; but it is really a matter of doubt to what plant 
this name was given ; some suppose it to have been the garden ' larkspur.' 

2 In vermilion.'] — Ver. 7. It has been before remarked that the ancients 
adorned their manuscripts with various colours, among which vermilion 
was conspicuous. Pliny tells us that they steeped their books in the oil 
or juice of cedar, to preserve them from decay, and to impart to them a 
pleasant smell. This oil was especially useful in averting the attacks of 
insects, and gave the paper a yellow colour 



248 THE TBISTIA ; [b. i. 

extremities 3 with a blackened page. Let these appliances be 
the ornaments of more fortunate books : it befits you to keep 
your fate in remembrance. And let not the two sides of your 
leaves be polished with the brittle pumice/ so that you may 
appear, as you ought, all rough with your dishevelled hair. 
And be not ashamed of your blots : he who beholds them 
will be sensible that they were caused by my tears. Go, my 
book, and in my words salute those pleasing spots ; for, in the 
only method that is allowed me, 1 will assuredly reach them. 
If there shall be any one there not forgetful of me, as in so 
great a multitude is not unlikely ; if there shall be any one 
who, by chance, may inquire what has become of me; you will 
say that I am still living : you will say, too, that my state is 
but an unhappy one ; and that the very life that I have I re- 
ceive as a favour from the God. 3 And you will present your- 
self, in silence, to be read by any one making further enqui- 
ries, lest perchance you may utter what may not be to my 
advantage. 

The reader, put in mind, will at once recall to memory the 
charges against me ; and by the mouth of the public shall I 
be condemned. But beware that you say nought in my de- 
fence, although you will be carped at with reproachful speeches. 
The cause that is not a good one will be made worse 
by your support. You will find the person, who will sigh in 
regret that I was snatched away, and who will not read these 

3 Whitened extremities^ — Ver. 8. ' Cornua.' This word literally 
means ' horns/ The paper or parchment which formed a book was joined 
together so as to form one sheet ; when finished, it was rolled on a staff, 
and was called ' volumen/ from ' volvo,' 'to roll.' The staff on which it was 
rolled was fastened to it at the top, and the two projecting ends of it were 
often capped with halls or bosses, which were of various colours and 
patterns, and had the name of ' cornua.' Ovid bids the ' cornua' of this 
work not to be white, but rather to assume an aspect of sorrow. 

4 Brittle pumice.'] — Ver. 11. Only one side of the paper or parchment 
was written on, and that was first rubbed smooth with pumice-stone, that 
the pen of the writer might run freely, and not be impeded by hairs or 
other foreign substances. The pumice of the isles of Melos and Scyros 
and of Lipara was the most esteemed. Lightness and whiteness were the 
two most desirable qualities in pumice. 

5 A favour from the God.] — Ver. 20. We find the poet throughout 
addressing Augustus as a Divinity ; this, when suffering in exile the effects 
of his anger, he could hardly have omitted to do, as extreme adulation of 
Augustus and his family was one of the fashionable failings of the day. 



E. i.] OR, LAMENT OF OVID. 249 

verses of mine with unmoistened cheeks; who also, in silence, 
that no mischievous person may overhear him, will breathe a 
wish that, Caesar once appeased, my punishment may be lighter. 
Whoever he may be, that wishes the Gods to be softened 
against wretched me, — that he may never be unfortunate is my 
prayer. And what he wishes, may the same be accomplished; 
may the wrath of the Prince, once assuaged, grant me leave 
to die in the home of my fathers. 

Perhaps, my book, you will be blamed for having obeyed my 
commands, and you will be said to be inferior to my usual repu- 
tation for genius. As it is the duty of a judge to consider facts, 
so ought he to take into consideration the circumstances. In your 
case, when the circumstances are inquired into, you will be safe. 
"When composed by a spirit at rest, verses flow easily; but my 
days are overclouded by sudden misfortunes. Verses require 
both retirement and ease for their writer : the sea, the winds, 
and the cruel storm, are tossing me 6 to and fro. All alarm ought 
to be afar from him who is composing verses ; I, wretched man 
that I am, each moment, think that a sword is about to be 
plunged into my throat. A considerate judge will even wonder 
at this performance of mine ; and such as they are, he will 
read my compositions with indulgence. Give me Homer 7 
himself in my place, and then look round upon my calamities : 
all his genius would vanish amid misfortunes so great. 

Lastly, my book, remember to go regardless of your repu- 
tation ; and let it be no cause of shame to you, when read, to 
have displeased your reader. Fortune does not show herself 
so favouring to me, that any care needs be taken by you of 
your fame. So long as I was in prosperity, I was influenced 
by the love of glory, and ardent was my desire of acquiring 
reputation. If I do not now abhor all verses, and that pursuit 
which proved my ruin, let that be enough ; for thus was my 
exile caused by my genius. 8 But go : go instead of me ; and 

6 Are tossing me.] — Ver. 42. This Elegy either was written by Ovid 
while going to his place of banishment, and when out at sea ; or, by a 
poetical license, he supposes such to have been the case. 

7 Homer.'] — Ver. 47. Literally, ' Mseonides.' He was so called either 
from 'Maeonia,' or Lydia, in Asia Minor, which was the place of his birth ; 
or, according to some writers, from Mseon, which was the name of his 
father. 

8 By my genius."] — Ver. 56. He alludes to his having been banished 
from Rome, ostensibly for having written the ' Art of Love ; ' though he 



250 THE TEISTIA ; [b. I. 

do you, to whom it is allowed, behold the city o/Rome. Oh ! that 
the Gods would grant, that, this moment I could be my book ! 
And do not, because you come from afar into the great City, 
suppose that you come unknown to its people. Although you 
want a superscription, you will be recognized by your very 
colour ; should you wish to conceal the fact, it is clear that 
you belong to me. But enter by stealth, lest verses of mine 
should prove an injury to you ; they are not now loaded with 
public favour, as once they were. If there be any one who 
thinks that because you are mine you ought not to be read, 
and throws you from his bosom, say to him, " Look at my 
title : I am not the instructor in love ; that work has already 
paid the penalty that it deserved.' 5 

Perhaps you may expect that I should order you, thus sent, to 
ascend to the lofty palace, and the home of Caesar. May that 
august spot and its Gods 9 pardon me ; from those heights, de- 
scended the bolt on this my devoted head. I remember, indeed, 
that there are in those abodes Deities, full of mercy; but still do 
I fear those Gods who have wrought my ruin. The dove is star- 
tled at the slightest flutter of its wing, when once she has been 
wounded, thou hawk, by thy talons. The lamb, too, dares not 
stray afar from the sheep-folds, if by chance it has once been 
seized by the teeth of the ravening wolf. Were Phaeton now 
living, he would shun the skies ; and he would be unwilling to 
touch the very horses which, in his folly, he wished for. And 
so do I, who have experienced them, confess that I dread the 
weapons of Jove. When it thunders, I imagine that it is I who am 
sought by the fires of heaven. Each person in the Grecian fleet 
that has escaped Caphareus, 10 always makes all sail away from 

frequently reveals the fact that his offence really was the possession of 
some secret relative to the family of Augustus, which had accidentally 
come to his knowledge. He nowhere reveals what that secret was, and 
only persists in declaring, throughout his 'Lament/ that criminality of 
intention was no part of his fault. 

9 And its Gods."] — Ver. 71. Under this title he intends to include not 
only Augustus, hut Tiberius, Germanicus, and Drusus. 

10 Caphareus.] — Ver. 83. This was a promontory of the island of 
Euhoea. Nauplius, the king of the island, to avenge the death of his son, 
Palamedes, who had been put to death by the Greeks, when they were 
returning from Troy, caused lighted torches to be exhibited on this pro- 
montory ; supposing that a harbour was at hand, many of the ships made 
for land, and suffered shipwreck in consequence, amid the rocks with 
which Caphareus is girt. 



E. l.] OK, LAMENT OP OVID. 251 

the Euboean waves. My little bark, too, once struck by the 
o'erwhemiing storm, dreads to approach the spot on which it has 
been shattered! Therefore, beloved book of mine, look around 
you with timorous feelings, and let it satisfy you to be perused 
by the middle classes. While Icarus was soaring on high, with 
wings too weak, he gave a name to the Icarian waves. And 
yet is a matter of difficulty to say whether you should make 
use of your oars or of the breezes : n circumstances and op- 
portunity will give you fitting advice f If you can be pre- 
sented when he is at leisure ; if you shall see any thing 
favourable ; if his wrath shall have spent its strength ; if there 
shall be any one to present you hesitating and fearing to ap- 
proach him, and to say first a few words in your favour ; then 
do you approach his presence. May you arrive there at a for- 
tunate hour, more fortunate yourself than me, your master, and 
may you diminish my calamities. For either no one, or he 
only, who has inflicted on me the wound, is able to remove it, 
after the example of Achilles. 12 Only take care that you do 
not injure me, while you are intending to serve me : for my 
hope is less strong than the apprehensions of my mind. Be- 
ware, too, that the wrath which was lulled be not excited, 
and that it do not again burst forth ; and that you become 
not a second cause of disgrace to me. 

And when now you shall have been received back again into 
my closet, and shall have reached the hollow book-case, 13 your 
destined home, there will you see your brothers arranged in 
order, whom the same anxiety has composed in its hours of 
watching. The remaining portion will openly show their titles 
exposed to view; and will bear their own names on their undis- 

11 Oars or of the breezes. ,] — Ver. 91. This is a metaphorical expres- 
sion, signifying that he was doubtful whether his recall might be hastened 
by his own efforts as a rower, or rather by watching for the breezes, the 
blowing of which would be indicated by the returning favour of Augustus. 

12 Example of Achilles.'] — Ver. 100. Achilles wounded Telephus, the 
son of Hercules, with his lance ; and afterwards, being reconciled to him, 
he healed him by an application of the rust of the same weapon. 

13 Hollow bookcase.'] — Ver. 106. * Scrinium' was the name of a box, 
or case for books, among the Romans. The smaller sort of these boxes 
were called ' capsae,' and the larger ones i scrinia/ They were made of 
beech wood, and were of cylindrical form, almost exactly resembling the 
common band-box of the present day. The books when rolled up were 
placed perpendicularly in the i scrinium' or ' capsa. ' 



~0* THE TEISTIA; [b. I. 

guised front. You will see three hiding apart, 14 in a dark 
corner. 5 Tis these, too, that teach, what no one is ignorant of, 
how to love. Do you at least shun these, or even, if you shall 
have boldness enough, call them so many parricides, like GMi- 
pus and Telegonus. 15 And of the three, I warn you, if you have 
any regard for your parent, bestow not your love on any one, 
even if he himself shall instruct you in so doing. There are, 
too, thrice five volumes on the change of the human shape, 
verses that were lately*rescued from my funereal obsequies : 16 
to these I bid you say, that the aspect of my altered fortune 
may be reckoned in the number of the forms that have been 
changed. For, on a sudden, it has been rendered unlike to 
what it was before ; and, now a source of sorrow, 'twas once 
full of joy. If you ask me ; I had some further commands 
to give you ; but I fear to be the cause of delay that may retard 
you. And if, my book, you were to convey every thing that 
occurs to me, a heavy burden would you become to him who 
is to carry you. Long is the way ; make speed. Meanwhile, 
the extremity of the earth will be my habitation — a region far 
removed from my native land. 



ELEGY II. 

The poet, setting out on his exile by the order of Augustus, is overtaken 
by a storm at sea : he prays the Gods to show him mercy, and not to com- 
bine with Caesar in his destruction. He cites many reasons for the ex- 
tension of their beneficence to him. He then describes the tempest, 
and prays the Deities for his safe arrival at Tomi. 

Gods of the sea and skies (for what resource have I but 
prayers?) abstain from rending asunder the joints of our shat- 
tered bark ; and second not, I pray, the wrath of the mighty 
Caesar. Ofttimes, as one God harasses us, does another Deity 

M Three hiding apart. ,] — Ver. 113. These were the three ' volumina/ 
or books of his ' Art of Love ;' the ostensible causes of his banishment. 

15 Telegonus. ] — Ver. 113. (Edipus unknowingly killed his father 
Laius, and Telegonus, the son of Ulysses and Circe, slew his father by 
mistake. 

16 Funereal obsequies.'] — Ver. 118. He refers to the fact that before 
leaving Rome for his place of exile, he placed on the fire his fifteen books 
of the Metamorphoses ; and this fire, lighted at the period of his down- 
fall, he poetically alludes to as his funeral pile, or rather that of his for- 
tunes. The Metamorphoses were, however, saved to posterity, through 
the medium of duplicates which were in the hands of his friends. 



E. ii.] OE, JAMEST OP ovid. 253 

bring us assistance. Mulciber was arrayed against Troy; 
Apollo was for Troy ; Venus was friendly to the Trojans ; 
Pallas hostile. The daughter of Saturn, more favourable to 
Turnus, hated iEneas ; yet was he safe under the tutelage of 
Venus. Ofttimes did the fierce Neptune attack Ulysses ; as 
oft did Minerva rescue him from her uncle. And what forbids, 
far inferior though I be to these, that a Deity should aid me, 
when a Deity is enraged ? Wretched man that I am ; in vain I 
waste my unavailing words : the heavy billows dash against my 
very lips as I speak. The raging South wind, too, sweeps away 
my words, and does not allow my prayers to reach the Gods 
to whom they are addressed. The same winds, for the reason 
that I may not be afflicted on one point only, bear away the 
sails and my prayers, whither I know not. 

Ah, wretched me ! What mountains of water are heaped 
aloft ! You would think that this very instant they would 
reach the highest stars. What abysses yawn as the sea re- 
cedes ! You would suppose that this very instant they would 
extend to black Tartarus. On whichever side you look, there 
is nothing but sea and sky ; the one swelling with billows, 
the other lowering with clouds. Between the two, the winds 
rage in fearful hurricane. The waves of the ocean know not 
which master to obey. For at one moment, Eurus gathers 
strength from the glowing East, at another instant comes 
Zephyrus, sent from the evening West. At one time, the icy 
Boreas comes raging from the dry North ; at another, the 
South wind wages battle with adverse front. The steersman 
is at fault : and he knows not what to avoid, or what course 
to take. Skill itself is at a loss amid these multiplied evils. 

In truth, we are on the verge of destruction, and there is 
no hope of safety, but a fallacious one ; as I speak, the 
sea dashes o'er my face. The waves will overwhelm this breath 
of mine, and in my throat, as it utters vain entreaties, shall I 
receive the waters that are to bring my doom. 

But meantime, my affectionate wife is bewailing nothing else 
but that I am an exile : this one portion alone of my misery 
does she know and lament. She is not aware how my body 
is tossed on the boundless ocean ; she knows not that I am 
driven to and fro by the winds ; she knows not that death is 
impending o'er me. 5 Tis well, ye Gods, that I suffered her 
not to embark with me : so that death might not have to be 
twice endured by wretched me ! But now, although I perish, 



254 THE TPvISTIA ; [b. t. 

since she is safe from danger, doubtless I shall still survive in 
her, one half of myself. 

Ah, wretched me ! how the clouds glisten with the instanta- 
neous flash. How dreadful the peal that re-echoes from the sky 
of heaven. The timbers of our sides are struck by the waves, 
with blows no lighter than when the tremendous charge of the 
balista 17 beats against the walls. The wave that now is coming 
on, o'er tops all the others ; 'tis the one that comes after the 
ninth and before the eleventh. 18 

I fear not death ; 'tis the dreadful kind of death ; take 
away the shipwreck; then death will be a gain to me. 'Tis 
something for one, either dying a natural death, 19 or by the 
sword, to lay his breathless corpse in the firm ground, and to 
impart his wishes to his kindred, and to hope for a sepulchre, 
and not to be food for the fishes of the sea, 

Suppose that I am worthy of such a death as this ; I am 
not the only person that is carried here. Why does my punish- 
ment involve the innocent ? 

Oh, ye Gods above, and ye azure Deities, in whose tute- 
lage is the ocean ! Do you, each of your number, desist 
from your threatenings. Suffer, that, in my wretchedness, 
I may take to the appointed destination that life which the 
most lenient wrath of Caesar has granted me. If you wish 
me to endure a punishment which I have merited, still, in my 
own thinking, my fault is not deserving of death. If Caesar 
had wished now to send me to the Stygian waves, in that, he 
had not needed your aid. He has a power over my life, 
amenable to the envy of none ; 20 and that which he has given, 
when he shall please, he will take away. Only do you, ye 
Gods, whom I assuredly think that I have injured by no 
misdeeds, be content with my present misfortunes. 

17 Charge of the balista.'] — Ver. 48. The ' balista' was an engine of 
war, used by the ancients for the purpose of discharging stones against 
the higher part of the wails of besieged places, while the catapulta was 
directed against the lower. The charge of the ' balista' varied from two 
pounds in weight to three hundred weight. 

18 Before the eleventh.'] — Ver. 50. It was a common belief among 
the ancients that every tenth wave exceeded the others in violence. 

19 A natural death.] — Ver. 53. ■ Fato suo.' Literally, * according to 
one's fate,' or ' destiny.' 

20 The envy of none.] — Ver. 67. ' Invidiosa' means either ' envious, 
or ' causing envy/ according to the context. 



E. II.] OR, LAMENT OF OYID. 255 

And yet, even if you all wished to preserve unhappy me, it 
is not possible that one who is utterly undone can be in safety. 
Although the sea be calmed, and I avail myself of favouring 
winds ; although you should spare me : shall I, any the less, 
be an exile ? I am not ploughing the wide ocean for the ex- 
change of my merchandize, greedy of acquiring wealth with- 
out Hmit. I seek not Athens, which once, when studious, I 
sought : I seek not the cities of Asia, nor spots which once I 
visited. Nor yet do I wish, that carried to the famed city of 
Alexander, 21 1 should behold thy luxuries, thou revelling Nilus, 
The object, for which I desire favouring winds (who could 
credit it ?) is the Sarmatian land, to which my prayers now 
tend. I am bound to reach the barbarous shores of Pontus, 
situate on the left hand ; and what I lament is, that my flight 
from my country is so tardy. In my prayers do I make my 
travel of short duration, that I may see the people of Tomi 
situate in some obscure corner of the globe. If so it is, that 
you favour me, restrain the waves thus overwhelming, and let 
your powers be propitious to my bark : if rather you hate me, 
bring me to the appointed land. A part of my punishment 
is in the situation of the spot. What do I here ? Speed on 
my canvass, ye raging winds. Why do my sails e'en look on 
the Italian shores ? Caesar willed this not to be : why do ye 
detain him, whom Caesar drives afar? Let the Pontic land behold 
my face. He both orders this, and I am deserving of it ; and I 
deem it neither just nor righteous for those accusations to be 
defended, on which he has condemned me. But if the deeds of 
mortals never escape the Gods, you are aware that wilful crime 
is no part of my fault. So it was : and ye know it. If my igno- 
rance has carried me away, and if my mind was foolish, but not 
imbued with crime ; if though but one of the least, I have been 
devoted to that house ; if the public edicts of Augustus have been 
sufficient for me/or my own guidance : if, in this Prince, I have 
pronounced the age to be blessed : and if, in my reverence, I 
have offered frankincense for Caesar and the Caesars : 22 if such 

21 City of Alexander.'] — Ver. 79. This was the city of Alexandria, 
in Egypt, which was founded by Alexander the Great. For luxury and 
dissolute manners, it occupied much the same rank, in the time of Ovid, 
that Paris does at the present day. 

22 The CcesarsJ] — Ver. 104. These would be, perhaps, Caius and 
Julius, the grandsons of Augustus; and Tiberius, who was adopted by 
Augustus after their death, together with his son Drusus, and Germanicus, 
his nephew and adopted son. 



256 THE TEISTIA; [ B . r. 

have been my feelings : then pardon me, ye Gods ; but if not, 
then let the wave, falling from on high, overwhelm my head. 

Am I deceived 1 Or are the clouds, pregnant with storms, 
beginning to disappear, and does the wrath of the sea now 
changed in aspect, diminish ? This is no chance ; but when 
invoked on these terms, you, whom it is not possible to de- 
ceive, bring me this assistance. 



ELEGY III. 

The poet describes his consternation when first he was exiled by the 
order of Caesar; and how he spent his last night at Rome. He depicts 
the affliction of his wife, and of his household, on that occasion. 

When the most sad remembrance recurs to me of that night, 
which was my last in the City — when I recal that night, in 
which I left so much that was dear to me — even now does 
the tear start from my eyes. 

Now was the day near at hand, on which Caesar had ordered 
me to depart from the limits of even the extremity of Ausonia : 
neither my feelings nor the time allowed, were well adapted 
for me, to make my preparations ; my senses had become 
by protracted delay. I paid no regard to procuring attendants, 23 
nor to making choice of a companion, nor to providing clothes 
or means suitable for an exile. I was astounded, just as when 
a man, struck by the bolts of Jove, lives on, and himself is 
unconscious that he lives. 

But when grief itself removed this cloud from my mind, 
and my senses at last regained their strength, about to depart, 
for the last time I addressed my sorrowing friends, who, 
out of so many, were only one or two in number. My affec- 
tionate wife, bitterly weeping, herself clung to me weeping ; 
as the shower of tears flowed down her cheeks, undeserving 
of sorrow. My daughter was far distant from me, in the 
Libyan regions ; nor could she be informed of my fate. On 
whichever side you might look, grief and tears re-echoed with- 
in the house: there was the semblance of a funeral, not cele- 

23 Attendants.'] — Ver. 9. For the purpose of accompanying him to 
his place of banishment. He seems not to have been fortunate in his 
choice when it was made ; as he was in constant peril, he tells us else- 
where, from the treachery of those who accompanied him. 



E. III.] Oil, LAMENT OF OYID. 257 

brated in silence. Both wife and husband, and my servants, 
too, were lamenting at my obsequies ; and in the house, every 
corner had its share of tears. If, in a small matter, I may make 
use of great examples, such was the appearance of Troy when 
it was taken. 

And now the voices of men and the baying of dogs were 
lulled, and the Moon on high was guiding the steeds of the 
night. Looking up to her, and from her, turning my eyes to 
the Capitol, which, in vain, was adjacent 24 to my house, I said, 
— " Ye Deities that inhabit these neighbouring abodes, and 
ye temples, never again to be beheld by these eyes ; and ye 
Gods, whom the lofty city of Quirinus contains, that must be 
left by me, be ye bade adieu by me for ever! and although 'tis 
but late after my wounds that I assume my shield, yet do ye 
divest this my exiled state of hatred against me ; and tell that 
heaven-born person what error it was that deceived me : lest, 
instead of a fault, he may think it was a crime on my part ; so 
that, what you are aware of, of that same the author of my pun- 
ishment may be sensible. I can still be not unhappy, that 
Divinity once being appeased." 

With these prayers did I address the Gods above ; with 
more entreaties did my wife, as the sobs broke her sentences 
in the midst ; she even, prostrated before the household Gods 
with her hair dishevelled, touched the extinguished hearths 
with trembling lips, and many words did she pour forth to the 
Penates, now alienated, to be of no avail for her lamented hus- 
band. 

And now, the advanced night refused any time for delay, 
and the Parrhasian Bear 25 was turning from the North Pole. 
What could I do ? I was detained by affectionate love for my 
country ; but that was the last night before my prescribed 
banishment. Ah ! how often did I say, as any one put me in 
mind, — "Why dost thou hurry me? Consider both whithev 
thou art hastening me, and whence!" Ah! how often did 1 
falsely say, that I had fixed on a certain hour, which was suited 

24 In vain was adjacent.'] — Ver. 30. He implies that his house was 
near the Capitol to no purpose, as the Deities who were there residing, did 
not extend their benign iniiuence to one who was so very contiguous to 
them. 

25 The Parrhasian Bear.]— Ver. 48. This was Cailisto, whose story 
has been related in the second Book of the Fasti. Parrhasia was in 
Arcadia, of which country she was a native ; hence her present epithet 

S 



258 THE TRISTIA ; [ B . I. 

for commencing my destined journey. Thrice did I touch the 
threshold ; thrice was I called back, and my lingering foot 
itself proved indulgent to my feelings : often, having bade 
farewell, did I again give utterance to many a word, and, as if 
now departing, I gave the last kiss. Oft did I give the same 
injunctions, and I became my own deceiver, looking back with 
my eyes upon my dear pledges. 26 At last I said, — " Why do 
I hasten ? It is Scythia to which I am banished — Rome must 
be left by me: either way my delay is justified; my wife, 
while living, is for ever denied to me still in life ; my home, 
too, and the dear members of my faithful household; the com- 
panions, too, whom I loved with the attachment of a brother — 
hearts that, alas! were linked to me in an affection worthy of 
Theseus. 27 While yet I may, I will embrace them ; perhaps, 
never again shall I be allowed to do so. The moment that is 
conceded to me, is so much gained." I delay no longer ; I leave 
the words of my discourse but half finished, while embracing 
each that is dearest to my heart. 

While thus I was spealdng, and we were in tears, the Light- 
bearing star had risen in its effulgence in the lofty heavens 
— a star full of woe for us. I was then torn away, just as 
though I was leaving my limbs ; and one part of me seemed 
to be dissevered from its trunk. So did Priam grieve at the 
time, when the horse, changing to the contrary of its supposed 
purpose, held within it those who were to avenge the treason. 23 
Then, indeed, arose the sobs and the lamentations of my family, 
and their sorrowing hands beat their bared bosoms ; and then 
my wife, clinging to my shoulders as I departed, mingled 

25 Dear pledges.] — Ver. 60. It is pretty clear from his writings, that 
Ovid had no children at the time of his banishment, except one daughter, 
who was then absent in Africa. Reference is most probably here made to 
her children, who perhaps had been left in their grandfather's house 
during the absence of their mother. 

27 Theseus.'] — Ver. 66. He refers to the friendship of Theseus and 
Pirithou s, which was celebrated in ancient story. 

28 Avenge the treason.] — Ver. 75, 76. This perhaps refers to the 
treason of which Paris had been guilty in seducing the wife of Menelaus, 
his entertainer, and thus violating the laws of honour and hospitality. 
The wooden horse ' changed to the contrary/ when, instead of producing 
advantage to the city of Troy as had been anticipated on its admission, it 
introduced the enemy, who was to destroy it. Heinsius suspects that 
these two lines are not genuine, which, from their very vague and am- 
biguous meaning, seems likely to be the case. 



E. in.] OK, LAMENT OF OVID. 259 

these sad words with her tears, — " Thou can'st not be torn 
from me : together, alas ! — together with thee will I also go." 
She said, — " Thee will I follow ; and I, an exile, will be the wife 
of an exile. For me, too, has this journey been destined ; and 
me do the remotest lands receive : I shall prove but a slight 
burden, to add to the flying bark. The wrath of Caesar bids 
thee depart from thy country — affection bids me do the same ! 
This duty shall be in place of Caesar to me. 5 ' Such attempts as 
these did she make ; thus, too, had she pressed me before ; 
and scarcely did she yield, overcome by a sense of my advantage. 

I go forth (that, indeed, was to be borne to the grave, with no 
funereal rites !) all neglected, with my hair hanging about my 
unshaven face. She — overwhelmed with sorrow — is said, a 
faintness coming over her, to have fallen down lifeless in the 
midst of the house ; and when she rose again, with her hair 
soiled with the foul dust, and lifted her limbs from the cold 
ground, they say that she bewailed her household Gods, that mo- 
ment left destitute, and many a time called on the name of her 
husband, just torn away from her ; and they say that she 
grieved no less than if she had seen the erected pile receive 
the body of our daughter, or my own ; and that she wished 
to die, and in death to put an end to her sufferings ; but that, 
from regard for me, she did not terminate her life. 

May she live on ; and, since the Fates have thus decreed, 
may she live ever to relieve me, far, far away, by her aid. 



ELEGY IV. 

He describes a tempest which arose in the Ionian sea during his voyage ; 
and he depicts the despair of the crew. 

The guardian of the Erymanthian Bear 29 is immersed in the 
ocean, and, by the influence of her Constellation, arouses the 
waves, while I am ploughing the Ionian sea by no inclination 
of my own ; but apprehension itself forces me to be bold. 
Ah, wretched me ! by how tremendous a gale is the sea 
aroused, and how the sand seethes again as it is ploughed up 

29 Erymanthian Bear."] — Ver. 1. Callisto is here called Erymanthian* 
from Erymanthus, a mountain of Arcadia. 

s2 



260 THE TRISTIA ; [b. i. 

from the lowest depths. The waves, no lower than a mountain, 
are hurled over the prow and the curving poop, and dash against 
the resemblances of the Deities. 30 The pinewood texture 
creaks ; the rigging, with loud noise, is beaten to and fro ; and 
the very ship groans responsively to my woes. The sailor, 
betraying his fear by the paleness of an ice-cold chill, now 
passively follows his bark o'ercome by the storm, and guides 
it not by his skill. Just as the driver, failing in his strength, 
loosens the useless reins on a horse of unbending neck, so 
do I behold our charioteer set the sails of the ship, not in the 
direction that he desires, but whither the raging current of the 
sea is driving us ; and, unless iEolus sends breezes from 
another quarter, I shall be carried to lands now forbidden to be 
approached by me. For Illyria, being descried afar to the 
left, the forbidden shores of Italy are beheld by me. May 
the wind, I pray, cease to blow towards the forbidden regions, 
and, together with me, may it obey the great Deity. While I 
am speaking, and am, at the same moment, both longing and 
fearing to be hurried back again, with what tremendous force 
does the wave lash upon our sides ! Spare me, ye Deities of 
the azure ocean, spare me ; let it be enough that Jove is in- 
censed 31 with me : save my wearied life from a cruel death, if, 
indeed, one who is already undone can possibly be saved from 
perishing. 



ELEGY V. 

The poet extols the constancy of his friend, who in adversity had not 
abandoned him. He says that but few out of so many of his acquaint- 
ances had thus deserved his esteem. He also exhorts his friend to 
remain firm in his attachment, and not to stand in fear of the resent- 
ment of Augustus. 

Ok thou! that must be recorded as second to none of my com- 
panions ; oh thou ! to whom especially my lot seemed to be 

20 Resemblances of the Deities.'] — Ver. 8. On the ' puppis/ or l poop/ 
there was usually a statue of one or more Deities, the guardians of the 
ship. From these, or from the ' insigne/ or ' figure head/ which was 
placed at the bow, the vessel had its name. 

31 Jove is incensed.'] — Ver. 26. In an excess of the all-prevailing adu- 
lation of the time, he does not content himself with calling Augustus a 
God, but he very frequently calls him either Jupiter, or the equal of 
Jupiter. 



E. V.] OB, LAMENT OP OVID. 261 

his own ; thou, most beloved friend, who first of all didst dare 
to cheer me, when overwhelmed, by thy words ; thou who 
didst give me the kind advice to live, when desire of death was 
existing in my wretched heart ! Thou knowest well whom I am 
addressing by allusions and not byname ; and thy kind attention 
is not forgotten by thee, 32 my friend. These things will ever 
remain impressed upon my very innermost marrow ; and I 
shall ever be indebted to thee for this life of mine, My breath 
6hall go forth to vanish in the vacant air, and shall leave 
my bones upon the heated pile, before forgetfulness of thy 
deserts comes o'er my mind ; only by dint of length of time 
may that affection fade from my memory. May the Gods be 
propitious to thee ; may they also grant thee a fate that needs 
the assistance of no one, and quite unlike to mine. But if 
this ship were not now being borne on by favouring breezes, 
perhaps the extent of that friendship would have remained 
unknown to me. Pirithous would not have experienced The- 
seus as being so much his friend, had he not descended, while 
yet living, to the infernal streams. Thy persecuting Furies, 
sad Orestes, caused Py lades, the Phocian, to be an example of 
true friendship. Had not Euryalus fallen, ivhen lighting 
against Rutulian foes, no praise would there have been for 
Msus, sprung from Hyrtacus. 

Just as the yellow gold is beheld in the flames, so is fidelity to 
be tested in the season of distress. While Fortune aids us, and 
smiles with serene countenance, all good attends undiminished 
wealth. But soon as peals the thunder, all fly afar, and by 
none is he recognized, who, the moment before, was surrounded 
with troops of acquaintances. And this fact, long since 
gathered by me from the instances of those of olden times, 
is now known to be true, from my own misfortunes. Out of 
so many friends, scarcely are two or three of you now remain- 
ing to me. The rest of the crowd belonged to Fortune, not to 
me. Do you, then, the more, ye few, aid my broken fortunes, 
and afford a saving shore for my shipwreck. And be not too 
much alarmed with an ill-grounded dread, fearing lest the 
Divinity should be offended at this your affection. Ofttimes, 

32 Not forgotten by thee.~\ — Ver. 8. He means to say that, without 
mentioning his friend's name, he will, when he mentions the circum- 
stances attending his acts of kindness, easily recall them to his mind, 
and know to whom Ovid alludes. 



262 THE tristia; 



[b. I. 



even in adverse warfare, has he praised fidelity ; Csesar loves 
it in his friends, and in his foe he approves of it. My case is 
a still better one, as I have not favoured adverse arms ; but by 
my sincerity 33 have I earned my exile. Therefore, I entreat 
you, watch over my misfortunes, if by any means the wrath 
of the Divinity can be assuaged. 

Should any one wish to know of all my woes, he would be 
asking more than possibility allows of. Evils have I endured, 
as many as there are shining stars in the heavens, and as many 
as the little particles which the dry dust contains. Many woes, 
too, have I endured, great beyond credibility ; such as, though 
they really have befallen me, would not receive implicit cre- 
dence. A certain portion, 34 too, it is fitting should perish 
together with me ; and would that it may be concealed, while 
I strive to hide it. Had I a voice that could never grow weak ; 
had I a breast stronger than brass ; had I many mouths, to- 
gether with many tongues ; not even on that account would 
I include every subject in my words ; the very extent of the 
topic exhausting my strength. 

Ye learned poets, write of my woes, instead of the chief from 
Neritos ; 35 far more evils have I endured than he of Neritos. 
He, for many a year, wandered in a limited space between 
the settlements of Dulichium and those of Troy. Me, Fortune 
has borne to the Getic and Sarmatian shores, having traversed 
distant seas through all the ranges of the seasons. 36 He had a 
faithful band, and faithful friends had he ; me banished, have 
my companions deserted. He, exulting and a conqueror, 
sought his country ; I, overpowered and an exile, fly from my 
country. Neither Dulichium, nor Ithaca nor Same 37 is my 

33 My sincerity.'] — Ver. 42. He seems here to allude to the real ground 
of his banishment, and to imply that excess of sincerity or frankness had 
been the cause of his ruin. Perhaps he had spoken his mind too freely 
on some of the family matters of the emperor, which had accidentally 
come to his knowledge. 

34 A certain portion.] — Ver. 51. That is, the secret connected with the 
family of Augustus, which he was in possession of, and which he nowhere 
discloses. 

35 Neritos.'] — Ver. 57. " He of Neritos" here means Ulysses. Duli- 
chium was an island in the vicinity of Ithaca. 

35 The ranges of the seasons.] — Ver. 61. This seems here to be the 
only assignable meaning to ' distantia sideribus notis,' which means lite- 
rally, * distant under the known Constellations.' 

a7 Same.]. — Ver. 67. This was an island of the Ionian sea, and it 



E. v.] OK, LAMENT OF OYID. 263 

home (places from which it was no great punishment to be far 
away) ; but Rome, the seat of empire and of the Gods, which from 
her seven hills looks round on the whole earth, is my home. 
Hardy was his body, and able to endure toil ; my powers are 
but weakly and enfeebled. 38 He was continually engaged in 
savage warfare ; I have been accustomed to the pursuits of 
refinement. A God has crushed me, there being none to 
alleviate my woes ; to him, the warrior Goddess brought 
assistance. And whereas he who holds sway over the billowy 
waves is inferior to Jove ; 'twas the wrath of Neptune that 
pursued him ; Jove's anger presses upon me. Besides, the 
greater part of his labours is fictitious ; in my misfortunes, 
no fabulous story is told. In fine, still 39 did he arrive 
at his desired home ; and still did he reach the fields which 
long he sought. But by me must the land of my fathers 
be left for ever, unless the wrath of the incensed Deity become 
appeased. 



ELEGY VI. 

The poet praises the fidelity and attention of his wife, because, when some 
were endeavouring to obtain his property, she preserved it, by her own 
firmness and the assistance of his friends. In return for her virtues, he 
promises her immortality in his poems. 

Not so much was Lyde 40 beloved by the poet of Claros ; not 
so much was Battis adored by him of Cos, 41 as you, my wife, 
are endeared to my heart, worthy of a husband, less unhappy, 

formed part of the realms subject to Ulysses. Its present name is Cepha- 
lonia. 

3S Enfeebled.] — Ver. 72. ■ Ingenuse,' properly means l free-born;' 
hence the word came to signify 'weak,' or 'feeble,' because, in general, the 
free-born could not endure fatigue so well as the slave, who was born to 
labour. 

39 Still did he.] — Ver. 81. That is to say, * In spite of all his misfor- 
tunes, he returned home, which at present is not my happy lot.' 

40 Lyde.] — Ver. 1. Lyde was the mistress of Callimachus, a Greek 
poet, who wrote in praise of her beauty. 

41 Him of Cos.'] — Ver. 2. Philetas, a native of Cos, who lived in the 
time of Alexander the Great, in his verse celebrated his mistress, Battis. 
He is said to have been of so slight a figure, that he was obliged to attach 
weights of lead to his person, to avoid being blown away by the wind. 



264 THE TEISTIA ; [b. i. 

though not a kinder one. By you, as though a beam for my 
support, was my fall upheld ; if still I am anything, 'tis all 
of your giving. 'Tis you that are the cause that I am not 
become a prey, and am not despoiled by those who have sought 
the remnants of my shipwreck. As, when hunger stimu- 
lates him, the wolf, ravenous and greedy of blood, surprises 
the unguarded sheepfold ; or, as the hungry vulture looks 
around if he can see any carcase uncovered by the earth — so a 
certain perfidious wretch, treacherous in my sore adversity, 
would have fallen on my property, if you had suffered him. 
Him. did your firmness displace, aided by strenuous friends, to 
whom no sufficient thanks can be returned by me. There- 
fore are you approved of by the testimony of one as wretched 
as he is honest ; if only that witness has any weight. In 
fidelity neither is the wife of Hector your superior, nor Lao- 
damia, 42 who followed as a companion in death to her husband. 
Had it been your lot to gain the Mseonian Homer as your 
poet, the glory of Penelope had been inferior to yours. Whe- 
ther is it to yourself you owe it, that you became virtu- 
ous by the tuition of no instructress, and that virtue was 
granted you at the moment of your birth ? or is it that the 
princely woman, 43 venerated by you all your life, has in- 
structed you by the example of a good wife, and, by long 
practice, has made you like herself? — if it may be allowed 
me to compare mighty subjects with those of humble nature. 
Ah me ! that my verses have no great weight, and that my 
praises are inferior to your deserts ! If even there was for- 
merly some native vigour in me, it has all departed, extin- 
tinguished by my prolonged miseries; you ought to have place 
the first of all among the pious women of story ; you ought to 
be conspicuous, the first of all, for the goodness of your dis- 
position. Yet, so far as any praises of mine shall avail, to all 
future time shall you live in my verse. 

42 Laodamia,"] — Ver. 20. She was the wife of Protesilaiis, who was 
the first person slain in the Trojan war. Her grief at his death was so 
extreme, that she refused to survive him. 

43 The princely woman.'] — Ver. 25. Livia. the wife of Augustus, to 
whose family the wife of Ovid seems to have been probably attached in 
some capacity. 



t. vii.] OK, LAMENT OF OTTD. 265 

ELEGY VII. 

The poet requests his friend, when he looks on his likeness engraved on 
a ring, to think of him in his exile, and to remove the wreath of ivy 
which he wears, as that only belongs to a fortunate poet. Instead of 
looking at his likeness, he requests his friends to read the fifteen books 
of his Metamorphoses, of which he hears that several copies are still in 
existence, though when about to leave Rome he had committed the 
original to the flames. He requests that six verses, which he inserts, 
should be written at the beginning of that work, in which the reader is 
informed that it was published in an unfinished state, by reason of the 
suddenness of his misfortune. 

If there is any one of you who has a likeness of me in a por- 
trait, take off from my locks the ivy, the garland of Bacchus. 
Those happy tokens befit only the joyful poet ; the garland 
is not befitting my circumstances. Thou dost not confess it, 
but thou knowest that this is addressed to thee, thou who 
dost carry me to and fro on thy finger, and who having set my 
likeness in the yellow gold, beholdest the beloved features of 
the exile, so far as it is now possible to do. Oft as thou dost 
look upon them, perhaps it may occur to thee to say, " How 
far away from us is our friend Naso !" Pleasing is thy affec- 
tion ; but a more faithful likeness are my verses, which, such 
as they are, I bid thee read ; verses that celebrate the changed 
forms of men ; a work that the wretched exile of its master 
cut short. These, at my departure, like a good many more of 
my works, did I myself, in my sorrow, throw into the flames 
with my own hand. As the daughter of Thestius 44 is said 
to have burnt her son by means of the brand, and to have 
proved a better sister than mother, so did I place the in- 
nocent books, my offspring, on the blazing pile, to perish 
with myself. 'Twas either because I held in abhorrence the 
Muses, as being the causes of my condemnation ; or because 
my poem was still imperfect, and in an unpolished state. But 
since these have not been utterly destroyed, but are in exist- 
ence (I believe that they were written out in several copies), I 
now pray that they may still exist, and delight the leisure of 
the reader, not idly spent, and may put him in remembrance 
of me. 

44 The daughter of Thestius.']— Ver. 18. Althea, the mother of Me- 
leager, who caused his death, in revenge for that of her bi others, who were 
slain by him. 



266 THE TEISTIA ; [b. I. 

But it is not possible that they can be read with patience 
by any one, if he shall be ignorant that the finishing hand 
was not put to them. That work of mine was snatched from 
the anvil in the midst, and the concluding polish 45 was 
wanting to my lines. Pardon, too, in place of praise, do I 
crave ; abundantly shall I be praised, reader, if I shall not 
cause you disgust. Insert, too, these six lines at the begin- 
ning of the little book, if thou shalt deem them worthy to 
be prefixed. "Whoever thou art, that art touching these 
volumes, deprived of their parent, let at least some spot be 
granted to them in thy City. And, the more to ensure thy 
favour, 'tis not by himself that they have been made public, 
but they have been snatched, as it were, from the funeral pile 
of their master. Whatever faults, therefore, the rugged verse 
in them shall chance to have, these shou]d I have corrected, 
had it been allowed me so to do." 



ELEGY VIII. 

The poet complains of the faithlessness and desertion of his familiar 
friend at the moment of his ruin and banishment. He entreats him to 
resume his friendship, that he may be enabled to substitute praise for 
censure. 

The deep rivers shall flow back again to their sources from 
the sea, and the sun shall repass his course, having turned his 
steeds. The earth shall bear stars, the heavens shall be cleft 
by the plough ; the waves shall send forth flames, and the fire 
shall produce water. All things shall proceed contrary to the 
laws of nature, and no part of the system shall hold on its 
usual course. All things shall now come to pass which I 
was wont to call impossible ; and there is nothing which is not 
worthy of belief. This is my prophecy ; because by him 
have I been deceived, whom I expected to aid me in my wretch- 
edness. 

Has so great forge tfulness of me, deceiver, taken possession 
of thee? Was it so great a disgrace to approach one in 

45 The concluding polish .]— Ver. 30. * Ultima lima ' is literally the 'last 
file.' He alludes to the fact, that the Metamorphoses were in an incom- 
plete state when he committed them to the flames ; and that, though 
rescued from destruction, he had not made any alteration in the work, or 
had in any way amended it. 



E. viii.] OR, LAMENT OF OYID. 267 

distress? Wouldst thou neither look upon nor console 
me, lying prostrate, oh cruel man ? Wouldst thou not 
attend my funeral rites ? Is the holy and venerated name 
of friendship trodden by thee under foot as a worthless 
thing ? What so great matter was it for thee to visit thy com- 
panion, prostrated by an affliction so heavy, and to alleviate it 
by a share of thy discourse ? and if not to shed a tear at my 
misfortunes, yet, at least, to utter a few words of complaint in 
feigned sorrow ? at least, too, to bid me farewell, which even 
strangers do ? and to imitate the language of the many, and the 
expression of public sorrow ? Was it not thy duty on the 
last day, and while it was allowed thee, to behold, for the last 
time, my tearful face, never to be beheld again ? and to give 
and receive, with like voice, the farewell, never again to be re- 
peated during all my life ? This even those did that were 
united to me in no intimacy, and they shed tears, the evidence 
of their feelings. Why was it ? even had I not been bound by 
intimacy and the most stringent reasons, and the attachment 
that grows in length of time ; Why ? even if thou hadst not 
known so much of my moments of relaxation and of my 
serious hours, and if I had not known sc much of thy mo- 
ments of relaxation and of thy serious hours ; Why? even 
if thou hadst been only known to me at Eome, thou who 
wast so often invited by me to every kind of place ; have all 
these things fled as unavailing, amid the blasts of the ocean ? 
Are all these things borne away, sunk amid the streams of 
Lethe ? 

I do not believe that thou wast born in the gentle 
clime of the City of Quirinus, a City never to be paced again 
by my foot ; but rather amid rocks, which this coast of Pon- 
tus, lying to the left, 46 claims as its own, and amid the savage 
steeps of Scythia and of Sarmatia. Round thy heart, too, are 
veins made of flint, and the ore of iron possesses thy hardened 
breast. The nurse, also, which once gave thee her full breast, 
to be drawn by thy tender mouth, was a tigress, otherwise thou 
wouldst have thought my loss less a matter of indifference to 
thee than thou now dost, and thou wouldst not now be con- 
victed by me of hardness of heart. But since this, too, is 

46 Lying to the left^—Ver. 39. This epithet is given to the region of 
Pontus, as lying to the left hand of a person proceeding thither by sea 
from Rome, or the countries lying to the south of it. 



263 THE TKISTIA : [b. I. 

added to my destined evils, that my recent life should miss its 
wonted harmony of friendship, do thou cause me not to bear 
in remembrance this lapse of thine, but rather that, with the 
same lips with which I complain, I should also proclaim thy 
affection. 



ELEGY IX. 

The poet complains that the vulgar wait on fortune, and that a man has 
friends in prosperity, but is deserted in adversity; and he says that the 
truth of this had been bitterly experienced by him ; that before he was 
banished by Augustus, he had many acquaintances ; but after his sudden 
downfall, he found no one to come to his succour, although the good 
feeling of Caesar would not have forbidden it, inasmuch as, even in the 
case of an enemy, he would approve of fidelity in friendship. He con- 
gratulates his friend on the renown that his genius and attainments have 
acquired for him, and he contrasts his graver pursuits, and their reward, 
with the evil consequences of his own indiscreet compositions. *v 

May it be granted thee to arrive at the limit of life free 
from misfortune, thou who readest this work with no unfriendly ■ 
feeling towards me. And would that these prayers of mine 
may be of avail for thee, which have not moved the cruel 
Deities in my behalf. So long as thou shalt be fortunate, 
thou wilt number many friends ; if the weather becomes 
o'ercast, thou wilt be alone. Thou seeest how the pigeons 
resort to the whitened roofs, and how the begrimed turret 
receives no bird. The ants never proceed to empty granaries ; 
no friend will attend the ruin of the wealthy. And just as 
the shadow accompanies those who walk in the rays of the 
sun, but flies when he lies hid o'erwhelmed with clouds, e'en 
so does the crowd follow the brightness of Fortune, and 
departs, soon as it is obscured by night coming on. It is my 
prayer that this may always appear a fiction to thee, but that 
it is the truth must be confessed by my experience. While I 
stood erect, a house, well known, but, of no pretensions, enter- \ 
taiued a circle sufficiently large. But, soon as that house was 
shaken, all dreaded the crash, and, in their caution, joined the 
common flight. And I am not surprised if they do fear the ruth- 
less thunderbolts, by whose fires they see each nearest object 
blasted. But yet in an enemy hated ever so much, Caesar 
approves of him that adheres as a friend in adversity ; and he 
is not wont to be angered (indeed, no one is more lenient than 



IX.] OK, LAMENT OF OTID. 



269 



lie) if a person loves him still in his affliction, whom he has loved 
before. Thoas himself is said to have approved of Pylades, 
when he learned the story of the friend of Argive Orestes. 
The faithful ties that existed between the son of Actor 47 and 
the great Achilles used to be praised by the lips of Hector. 
They say that the God of Tartarus grieved that the affectionate 
Theseus had attended his friend to the shades below. 'Tis 
worthy, Turnus, of belief, that thou didst bedew thy cheeks 
with tears when the attachment of Nisus and Euryalus was re- 
lated to thee. Towards the wretched, there is a duty, which, 
even by an enemy is praised. Ah, me ! how few are moved 
by these words of mine ! Such are my circumstances, such is 
the downfall of my fortunes, that no limit ought to be set to 
anguish. 

But my heart, though filled with sadness at my own lot, 
is made joyful at thy advancement. I foresaw, dearest friend, 
that this would come to pass, while a gentler breeze was 
still speeding on thy bark. If there is any value in good 
morals, or in a life free from stain, no one will be more de- 
serving of esteem than thee ; or if any one has raised himself 
through the liberal arts ; through thy eloquence, every cause be- 
comes a good one. Influenced by these considerations, I forth- 
with said to thee, " a wide field, my friend, awaits thy endow- 
ments." Not the entrails of sheep, not the thunders on my 
left, or the voice or the wing 48 of some bird observed by me 
told me this. Reason is my augury, and my estimate of the 
future ; from this did I predict, and from facts did I derive this 
knowledge. And since now it is verified, with all my heart do I 
congratulate myself and thee that thy genius did not escape 
me. But would that mine had lain concealed in the deepest 
shades ! It were my interest that fame had not attended my 
productions. And as, eloquent man, serious studies promote 
thy welfare, so have those of no like character been my ruin. 
And yet my life is well known to thee ; thou knowest that the 
morals of the author refrained from the pursuits therein de- 

47 The son of Actor. ,] — Ver. 29. This was Patroclus, the bosom friend 
of Achilles. He was slain by Hector, and his death was avenged by 
Achilles. 

48 Voice or the wing.]—Yei\ 50. He says that he did not learn this by 
the aid of augury, either by observing the flight of the 'praepetes/ or listen- 
ing to the voice of the '©seines.' 



270 THE TRISTIA ; [b. r. 

dieted. Thou knowest that the poem was sportively composed 
by me long ago, when a youth ; and that those lines, although 
worthy of no encouragement, are yet but so many sportive 
trifles. Therefore, as I think that my sins can by no plea be 
defended, so do I believe that they may yet be palliated. So 
far as thou canst, excuse me ; and forsake not the cause of 
thy friend. Mayst thou always proceed well in the steps in 
which thou hast commenced to go. 



ELEGY X. 

Ovid here eulogises the ship on board of which he embarked in the Gulf 
of Corinth. He then describes his voyage, and the places which he 
touched at. He prays that he may arrive in safety at Tomi, and on his 
safe arrival he promises to sacrifice a lamb to Minerva. He also prays 
to Castor and Pollux to look upon his bark with favour. 

The yellow-haired Minerva has the guardianship 49 of my 
bark, and long may she hold it, I pray ; from the helmet, too, 
painted therein, does it take its name. Is there need for 
spreading sail ? She runs well at the very slightest breeze ; 
are the oars to be plied ? with them she hastens on her way. 
Nor is she contented to surpass her companions in the swift- 
ness of her course ; she overtakes the vessels that have gone 
out of harbour ever so long before. She makes head against 
the seas ; she bears up against the waves that assail her, rolling 
from afar ; and, when struck by the raging billows, she springs 
no 3eak. She, first known to me at Cenchreee, of Corinth, 50 
abides as the faithful leader and companion of my flight. And, 
throughout so many casualties, and through so many seas 
] ashed by the hostile gales, under the tutelage of Pallas, is 
she safe and sound. Now, too, I pray, may she cleave 
her way in safety along the straits of the extended Pon- 
tus ; and may. she enter the waves of the Getic shore, whither 
she is steering. 

49 The guardianship.'] — Ver. 1. He means to say, that Minerva was 
the tutelar deity of the ship, whose statue was placed on the poop ; but 
that it took its name from the helmet which was painted on the 'insigne/ 
or ' figure-head,' on the prow. 

50 Cenchrece of Corinth.] — Ver. 9. Corinth, being situated on an isthmus 
between the iEgean and Ionian seas, had two harbours, Lecheae on the one 
side, and Cenchreae on the other. From the latter, the poet set sail for 
the Hellespont. 



E. x .] OR, LAMENT OP OTID. 271 

After she had brought me to the sea of the iEolian Helle, 
and proceeded on her long voyage between the narrow 
limits, we bent our course to the left, and from the city of 
Hector we came to thy harbours, land of Imbros. Then, 
after haying made the shores of Zerynthus with a gentle 
breeze, the weary bark touched at the Thracian Samos. From 
this spot to Tempyra is but a short passage for the traveller ; 
up to this point did she accompany her master ; but I pre- 
ferred to travel by land over the Bistonian plains. Again 
she sailed over the waters of the Hellespont ; and steered for 
Dardania, that bears the name of its founder, and thee, Lamp- 
sacus, safe under the care of thy rustic God, and where the 
sea divides Sestos from the city of Abydos, by means of the 
straits named after the virgin that was so badly carried ; 51 and 
thence, Cyzicus, situated on the shores of Propontis, the re- 
nowned work of the Heemonian nation ; and where the coasts 
of Byzantium skirt the entrance of Pontus ; (this spot is a vast 
inlet to two seas). May she pass these spots, I pray ; and, 
impelled by the fresh south winds, may she bravely pass 
the moving isles of Cyanea ; 52 and may she steer her way 
along the Thynnian bays ; and thence impelled past the 
city of Apollo, 53 may she pass on her course the walls of 
Anchialus. Thence may she pass the harbours of Mesembria 
and Odessus, and the towers, Bacchus, that are called after thy 
name, and where they say that those sprung from the city of 
Alcathoiis 54 re-established their exiled homes in these parts. 
Thence may she arrive in safety at the city sprung from Miletus, 55 
whither the wrath of the offended God has driven me. 

51 So badly carried.'] — Ver. 27. Because she fell off as the ram was 
carrying her, and, from her accident, gave the name of Hellespont to that 
tract of water. 

52 Isles of Cyanea.] — Ver. 34. These were also called the Symplegades, 
or 'floating islands.' They were two rocks at the mouth of the Euxine 
sea, and were fabled to shift their position. One very simple explanation 
of the story is, that, standing opposite to them, they appeared to be two in 
number, but looking at them obliquely they seemed to be but one. 

53 City of Apollo.] — Ver. 35. This was Apollonia, a city on the shores 
of Pontus. 

64 Alcathous.] — Ver. 39. He was a son of Pelops, and reigned over 
Megara, in Greece. His subjects were said to have founded the city of 
Callatia, on the Getic coast. 

55 City sprung from Miletus.] — Ver. 41. Namely, Torai, his destined 
place of banishment, which he tells us, elsewhere, was founded by a colony 
from Miletus, in Asia Minor. 



272 THE TEISTIA; [b. I. 

If she arrives thither, a lamb shall be slain to Minerva, 
meriting it ; a larger sacrifice does not suit my circumstances. 

Do you also, ye brothers, sons of Tyndarus, whom this 
island holds in veneration, be present with your favouring 
protection, on my two-fold journey. For the one ship is pre- 
paring to steer her course through the straits of the Symple- 
gades, while the other 56 is about to cleave the Bistonian waters. 
Grant ye, that when we are going on our way to different 
points, the one may have favouring breezes, and the other 
may have them not less favourable. 



ELEGY XL 

Ovid excuses himself, if there should appear in his verses any marks of 
haste or inelegance ; and he attributes them to the tempests and the 
ocean, amid whose conflicts he says that they were composed. 

Eveby letter that has been read by thee in the whole of this 
book was composed by me at the time of an anxious voyage. 
Either the Adriatic sea beheld me writing it in the midst of 
its waves, while I was shivering in the month of December ; or, 
after I had passed on my route the Isthmus of the two Seas, 57 
and another ship was taken for my voyage. I verily believe 
that the iEgean Cyclades were astounded that I could compose 
verses amid the jarring tumults of the ocean. I myself am 
now surprised, that, amid such billowy conflicts both of my 
spirit and of the sea, my genius did not vanish. Whether insen- 
sibility or madness is the proper name for this anxious feeling, 
my intellect was entirely upheld by this pursuit. Ofttimes 
was I tossed, full of apprehension, under the influence of the 
stormy Constellation of the Kids ; often was the sea threaten- 
ing under the Constellation of Sterope, 58 the keeper, too, of 

56 While the other.} — Ver. 48. He speaks metaphorically of himself 
and his intended passage by land over the Bistonian plains, having disem- 
barked, while the ship pursued her course (probably carrying his baggage) 
to Tomi. 

57 Of the two Seas. ,] — Ver. 5. The isthmus of Corinth, between the 
Mge&n and the Ionian seas. 

38 Constellation of Sterope} — "Ver. 14. She was one of the Pleiades, 
the name of one being here substituted for all, wilich is also frequently 
done by the poet, when speaking of the Muses or the Furies. 



E. II.] OB, LAMENT OF OTID. 273 

the Eryinanthian bear made the clay o'ercast ; or the South 
wind had heaped the raging torrents on the Hyades. Often 
did she ship a sea ; yet still, with trembling hand, did I 
compose my verses, such as they are. Now, the rigging- 
rattles, blown out by the North wind, and the curving wave 
rises like a hill aloft. The helmsman himself, raising his 
hands to the stars, forgetful of his art, implores aid in his 
prayers. Whichever way I look, there is nothing but the form 
of death, which, with anxious mind, I fear, and, as I fear, I 
pray. If I gain my port, by that very port I shall be 
frightened ; the shore has more horrors for me than the hostile 
waves. For by the deceit both of men and of the ocean am 
I buffeted, and the sword and the wave give me double grounds 
for fear. I fear lest the one, through shedding my blood, 
should hope for my spoil, and lest the other should wish to 
have the credit of my death. The part on my left hand is a 
barbarous region, surrounded by greedy rapine ; a region 
which bloodshed, slaughter, and wars are always in possession 
of. And, although the sea be agitated by the wintry storms, 
yet is my breast more agitated than the sea itself. 

Therefore thou oughtst, candid reader, the more to pardon 
these lines, if they are, as really they are, inferior to thy ex- 
pectation. These I write not, as once I did, amid my gardens , 
nor dost thou, my wonted little couch, now receive my body. 
I am tossed on the unruly deep on a wintry day, and my 
very paper is dashed o'er by the azure waves. The boisterous 
storm battles and rages because I dare to write, while it hurls its 
cruel threats. Let the storm prove stronger than man. Yet, 
at the same instant, I pray that I may put an end to my lines, 
it, to its threats. 



274 THE TEISTIA ; [b. II 



BOOK THE SECOND. 



Ovid entreats Augustus, if he will not permit his return, at least to grant 
him a safer and more civilized place for his exile, He declares that he 
will try whether verses, which have caused his disgrace, will not now 
obtain a mitigation of his punishment, just as the spear of Achilles 
both wounded Telephus and healed him. In a lengthened argumenta- 
tive poem, he endeavours to appease Caesar, showing that he had written 
many things in his praise. He enumerates a vast number of poets 
who never received any punishment whatever, although they had pub- 
lished works of either a loose or a slanderous character. 

What have I to do with you, ye little books ? — an unhappy 
pursuit of mine, who, in my misery, am undone by my own 
genius, Why do I turn again to the Muses but just con- 
demned — the grounds of my accusation ? Is it too little, but 
once to have been found deserving of punishment ? My verses 
have been the cause that both men and women desired to 
know me, by reason of my ill-omened fate. My verses have 
been the cause that Ceesar formed his estimation of me and my 
morals, from my Art of Love, seen by him after a lengthened 
lapse of time. Take from me my productions — you will then 
remove, too, the disgrace of my hie ; I owe to my verses, as the 
result of them, that I am a criminal. This is the reward that 
I have received for my pains and my labours, the result of 
my watchings : my punishment was the discovery of my inge- 
nuity. 

Had I been wise, I ought, by rights, to have hated the 
learned sisters — Deities, the destruction of their devotee ! But 
now, so great is the madness that accompanies my disease, 
that again (sad fate !) I turn my steps to the rocks on which I 
have struck: the conquered gladiator, forsooth, is seeking once 
more the arena, and the wrecked ship is returning to the bois- 
terous waves. 

Perhaps, as once, in the case of him who held sway o'er 



B< IIt ] OK, LAMENT OF OYID. 275 

the realms of Teuthrantus, 1 so to me, the same object shall 
give the wound and the remedy ; and the Muse, who has ex- 
cited it, shall assuage the anger that has been provoked: 
verses often propitiate the great Gods. Csesar, too, himself 
ordered the matrons and the brides of Ausonia to repeat 
verses in honour of Ops, crowned with turrets ; 2 he had 
ordered them also to be repeated in honour of Phoebus, at the 
time when he appointed the games, which one age beholds 
but once. 3 After these precedents, most merciful Csesar, I 
pray that thy anger may be appeased by my productions. It 
is justified, indeed, and I will not deny that I have been de- 
serving of it : all shame has not, to that degree, fled from my 
face ; but, had I not sinned, what had there been for thee 
to pardon? My fate has given thee the opportunity for 
mercy. If, ofttimes as mortals sin, Jove were to hurl his light- 
nings, in a little time he would be disarmed: when he has 
thundered, and has alarmed the earth with his peal, he makes 
the air clear by dispersing the showers ; justly, therefore, is 
he called both the Father and the Ruler of the Gods ; justly 
has the capacious universe nothing superior to Jove. Do thou 
as well, since thou art styled the Ruler of thy country, and its 
Father, follow the example of the God that has the same title. 
And thus thou dost ; and, than thee, no one could, with 
greater moderation, hold the reins of government. Pardon 
hast thou often granted to the conquered party, which, if 
victorious, it would not have granted to thee ; I have seen many 
even exalted with riches and honours, who had taken up 
arms against thy person. The same day which ended the war- 
fare, ended with thee the angry feelings of warfare ; and either 

1 The realms of Teuthrantus.]— Ver. 19. The kingdom of Mysia, a 
country of Asia Minor, is thus called from Teuthrantus, its king, who, 
having no male issue, married his daughter Argiope to Telephus, the son 
of Hercules, and made him heir to his kingdom. 

2 Ops crowned with turrets.'] — Ver. 24. This was one of the names 
of Cybele, Rhea, or Bona Dea, who was generally thus represented. 

3 Beholds but once.] — Ver. 26. He alludes to the Secular games, which 
were celebrated every 110 years, and which were held in the reign of 
Augustus, a.tt.c. 736. They were first instituted by Valerius Publicola, 
the Consul, after the expulsion of the kings, according to Festus and Cen- 
sorinus ; though the occasion of their first institution is generally con- 
sidered very doubtful. Before they commenced, heralds were sent to in- 
vite the people to a spectacle which no one of them had ever beheld, and 
which no one would ever behold again. 

T 2 



2/8 THE TRISTIA; [ B . n. 

side, at the same moment, bore offerings to the temples ; and, 
as thy soldiers rejoice that they have subdued the enemy, so 
lias the enemy reason to rejoice that he is subdued. 

My cause is a better one ; who am neither said to have taken 
up arms against thee, nor to have followed the fortunes of thy 
enemies. By the sea, by the land, by the third Deities, 4 do I 
swear, by thee too, a Divinity present and visible to us ; that this 
spirit of mine prayed for thy welfare, and that I, in mind, the 
only way I could be so, was devoted to thee. I wished that, 
late in life, thou mightst attain the stars of the heavens ; and I 
was an humble fraction of a multitude that prayed the same. 
For thee, with pious feelings, have I offered the frankincense ; 
and with all the rest, I myself, as one, have seconded the 
prayers of the public with my own. Why shall I make men- 
tion of those books as well, my causes of offence, which, in 
a thousand places, are filled with thy name? Examine my 
larger work, which as yet I have left incomplete, about bodies 
changed into incredible forms. There wilt thou find the com- 
mendations of thy name ; there wilt thou find many a pledge 
of my affection. Thy glory is not enhanced by verse, nor has 
it any means of increasing, so as to become greater. The glory 
of Jove is transcendent ; yet he is pleased that his deeds 
should be recounted, and that he himself should be the subject 
of poetry ; and when the battles of the Giant warfare are re- 
lated, it is worthy of belief that he takes a pleasure in his own 
praises. Others celebrate thee with as loud a voice as is be- 
fitting, and sing thy praises with a more fertile genius ; but 
yet, as a God is moved by the streaming blood of a hundred 
bulls, so is he influenced by the least offering of frankincense. 

Ah ! cruel was he, and too inhuman a fee to me, whoever it 
was that read to thee my love tales ! for fear lest verses in my 
books, so full of respect to thee, might possibly be read under 
the influence of 'a judgment more favourable. But who, when 
thou art offended, could prove a friend to me ? Hardly, under 
such circumstances, was I other than an enemy to myself? "When 
the shaken house began to sink, all the weight rested upon 
the part that subsided ; all sides open wide when Fortune has 
made the breach; buildings themselves fall down through their 
own weight. And thus the hatred of mankind has been the 

4 By the third Deities.'] — Yer. 53. Those of the heavens ; or, possibly 
of the. infernal regions ; a Euphemism being employed, to avoid the mention 
of their names. 



B. n.] OR, LAMENT OP OVID. 277 

resuit of my verses : and, where it ought, the multitude has 
followed thy looks. 

But. as I remember, thou didst approve of my life and 
manners, as I passed by thee in review, on the horse 5 which 
thou hadst given me. And if this is of no avail, and no 
favour is shown to my probity, still, in that position, I gave 
no ground for crimination. The fortunes of the accused 6 
were not ill entrusted to me, and the litigation that was to be 
taken cognizance of by the hundred men ; on private matters, 
too, did I arbitrate as a judge, without any cause of accusation, 
and even the party that was defeated bore witness to my up- 
rightness. Wretched me! I had been able, had not late 
events redounded to my injury, to be safe on thy judgment, 
not once only expressed in my favour. 5 Tis recent matters that 
have proved my ruin ; and one tempest engulfs in the ocean 
the bark that has been so oft unscathed. Nor was it any little 
portion of the sea that injured me ; but all the waves, and 
Ocean himself, overwhelmed my head. 

Why was I the witness of anything? 7 Why did I render 
my very eyes criminal ? Why was I unadvisedly made 
acquainted with the error? Actseon beheld Diana without 
her garments, unconsciously : not the less was he a prey to 
her hounds. In dealing with the Gods above, even accident, 
forsooth, must be atoned for; and chance receives no 
pardon when a Deity is affronted : for, on that same day on 
which my unfortimate mistake removed me from my home, a 
family, humble indeed, but without a stain, was ruined. 

5 In review on the horse.'] — Ver. 90. The inspection of the Equestrian 
order originally belonged to the Censors ; but that office having been 
abolished, Augustus substituted in its place the ' prssfectura morum/ which 
office he took on himself. Suetonius tells us that he frequently reviewed 
the troops of Equites, and restored the disused * transvectio Equitum,' 
which was a solemn procession of the body on horseback, and in martial 
array, on the Ides of July. It appears from the present passage, and the 
information given us by Suetonius, that the * recognitio/ or review, which 
was formerly held by the Censor, was connected by Augustus with the 
* transvectio/ or procession, and held at the same time. 

s Fortunes of the accused.'] — Ver. 93. He alludes to the fact of his having 
held office as one of the * centumviri/ or ' hundred men/ Their number 
was really 105, being elected, three from each of the 35 tribes ; their duty 
was to assist the Praetor in questions of property between individuals. 

7 Witness of any thing.] — Ver. 103. He here alludes to his having 
accidentally been witness to that fact, connected with the family of Augustus, 
the seeing, or speaking of which, was the real cause of his exile. 



2/8 THE TETSTIA ; [b. ii. 

Humble, however, though it be, in the days of my father it 
may be said to have been illustrious, and in point of nobility 
inferior to none ; it was remarkable for neither its wealth nor 
its poverty ; whence, rendered conspicuous by neither ex- 
treme, it holds its Equestrian rank. Be it, however, that my 
family is humble, either in the point of riches or of 
origin, assuredly it is not rendered obscure by my talents. 
Although I may seem to have used them too frivolously, 
still I have derived thence great fame through the whole 
earth. The class of the learned knows of Naso, and ventures 
to reckon him among those men that it is not ashamed of. 

This house, then, beloved by the Muses, falls rained through 
but one error, though that was no slight one ; and it has so 
fallen, that it can rise again, if only the wrath of the offended 
Caesar should be mitigated, whose clemency, in the case of my 
punishment, has been so extreme, that it is less severe than I 
had apprehended. My life was granted me, and thy anger 
stopped short of death, Prince, that hast thus used thy power 
with moderation. There still remains to me, as thou didst not 
take it away, my paternal property, as though the gift of my 
life was too small. Thou didst not condemn my deeds by the 
decree of the Senate, nor was my banishment pronounced by 
a commissioned judge. 8 Censuring me in words of sadness 
(as becomes a Prince), thou thyself hast avenged, as is proper, 
my offence against thee. Add, too, that the edict, although 
terrible and threatening, was still full of mercy in the designa- 
tion of the punishment; for in it I am called not an "exile," but 
merely one "removed," 9 and but few words are employed in^ro- 
nouncing my destiny. There is, in truth, no punishment more 
weighty to a man of principle, and who retains his senses, than 

8 Commissioned judge.] — Ver. 132. The * judices selects were se- 
lected by the city Praetor, according to the Lex Aurelia, from the three 
classes of the Senators, the Equites, and the Tribuni JErarii. From these 
classes a body of 350, or, according to some writers, 450 men was selected, 
and from these, the numbers of ' judices' requisite for the trial of each par- 
ticular case was chosen by lot. 

9 One removed.l — Ver. 137. This is the only translation that can be 
given for the word ' relegatus,' which, while it implied removal from one's 
country, did not necessarily imply any thing more, such as loss of civic 
rights and of property, which were the consequences of * exilium.' ' Re- 
legatio' was of two kinds ; the less severe only forbade residence in some 
particular place, while the other kind confined the person condemned to 
it to one spot, and no other. The latter was the fate of the poet. 



B. ii." OB, LAMENT OF OYID. 279 

to have displeased so great a personage. But even a Divinity 
is wont sometimes to be pacified ; the day is wont to proceed 
in its brightness when the clouds are dispersed. I have beheld 
the elm, laden with the leafy vines, which had been struck by the 
dreadful lightnings of Jove. Though thou thyself forbid me 
to hope, yet hope I will ; and this alone can I do, even against 
thy commands. 

Great is the hope that I entertain, when I consider thee, 
most merciful Prince! When I reflect upon my lot, my 
hope vanishes. But as, when the winds ruffle the sea, their 
rage is not equal, nor their blasts always the same, but some- 
times they are lulled, and with intermissions they are at rest, 
and you would suppose that they had rid themselves of their 
violence ; so do my apprehensions depart, return, and fluctuate, 
and both give and deny me the hope of appeasing thee. 

By the Gods above, then, who both can and will give thee 
length of days, if only they are attached to the Roman name ; 
by thy country, which is safe and free from cares, with thee 
for its Parent, of which but lately I formed a part, as one 
of its people ; so may the love of the grateful City, thy due, 
of which, both for thy deeds and for thy disposition, thou art so 
deserving, attend thee. May Livia, who was deserving of none 
but thee for her husband, with thee, complete the number of 
her years as thy companion. Were she not in existence, a single 
life would then befit thee ; for no one would there be, worthy 
for thee to be her husband. And while thus thou dost flourish, 
may thy son flourish too ; and may he, one day, full of years, 
rule this empire, in company with thee, more aged than him- 
self. And 4 may thy grandsons, 10 that youthful Constellation, 
follow in the steps of thee, and of their father, as already they 
do. May Victory also, always attached to thy camp, show 
herself ever nigh at hand, and may she attend the well-known 
standards : may she, too, o'ershadow with her wings the 
Ausonian chieftain, and may she place the laurel wreaths on 
his beauteous locks. By him thou wagest the war, in his per- 
son dost thou now fight ; to him dost thou entrust thy mighty 
destinies, and thy Gods. In one half of thyself dost thou 
here present look upon this City ; in the other half, thou art far 

10 Thy grandsons. ~\ — Ver. 167. This is in allusion to Drusus, the son 
of Tiberius, himself the adopted son of Augustus ; and Germanicus, the 
nephew of Tiberius, who had adopted him, in accordance with the com- 
mands of Augustus. 



280 THE TEISTIA ; [». h. 

away, and art carrying on the dreadful warfare. E'en so may 
he return to thee a conqueror from a subdued enemy, and may 
he be resplendent aloft, with his steeds decked with triumphal 
garlands. 

Spare me, I pray, and lay aside thy bolts, those cruel 
weapons — weapons, alas ! but too well known to me ! Spare 
me, Father of thy country ! and do not, in forgetfulness of 
this title, deprive me of the hope of appeasing thee one day. 
But I pray not to return ; although 'tis worthy of belief that 
the great Gods have often granted favours greater than those 
that have been asked for. If thou wouldst grant a more tole- 
rable place for my exile, and at a less distance, then in a great 
degree would my punishment be alleviated. I am enduring 
the greatest agony, thrust forth in the midst of our enemies ; 
and no one is there in banishment at a greater distance from 
his country. 

Sent, in solitude, as far as the mouth of the sevenfold 
Danube, I am oppressed with cold under the icy sky of the 
Parrhasian virgin. The Iazyges and the Coichians, and the 
ivleterean race 11 and the Getee are scarcely divided from me by 
the waters of the Danube between us ; and where others 
have been banished by thee for a cause more weighty, a more 
distant land has been assigned to no one of them than has been 
to myself. Nothing is there beyond this region, but cold and 
the foe, and the wave of the sea which unites in firm ice. Thus 
far is the Roman portion of the left side of the Euxine ; the 
Basternse 12 and the Sauromatee occupy our neighbourhood. 
This land is the remotest under Ausonian sway, and is hardly 
situate within the limits of thy empire. A suppliant, I entreat 
thee to send me hence to a place of safety, that quiet may not be 
withheld from me as well, as my country; that I may not have 
to dread the nations from which the Ister is no good defence, 

11 The Meterean race.'] — Ver. 191. The Iazyges were a people of Sar- 
matia. The Coichians here referred to were probably a colony founded by 
the people of Colchis who pursued Medea, but being unable to overtake 
her, settled in the vicinity of Tomi. The Metereans, or, more probably, the 
Neureans, which is supposed to be the correct reading, were a nation living 
near the vicinity of the river Borysthenes, now the Dnieper. The Getae 
lived in the country lying to the east of Pontus. 

12 The Basternce.'] — Ver. 198. This nation lived near the Danube. Ta- 
citus calls them the Peucini, and is in doubt whether to number them 
among the tribes of Germany or of Sarmatia. The name ' Sarmatian/ 
was applied in general to all the tribes living in the neighbourhood of the 
Borysthenes. 



B. II.] OR, LAMENT OE OVID. 281 

and that, a citizen of thine, I may not be captured by the enemy. 
Justice forbids that any one born of Latian blood should endure- 
the fetters of the barbarian, while the Csesars are in safety. 

Although two charges, my verses and my mistake, wrought 
my ruin, yet the guilt of this latter action must be suppressed 
in silence by me. For I am unworthy, even by the allusion, 
to renew thy wound, Csesar, whom it is far too much to have 
offended even once. 

The other part remains to be spoken of, in which, impeached 
on a base accusation, I am convicted as the teacher of foul 
adultery. It is possible, then, that the minds of the Gods can 
sometimes be deceived; and are not many things too humble for 
thy observation ? Just as there is not time for Jove to attend 
to trifling matters while he looks at the same moment upon 
the Deities and the heavens on high, so, while thou art 
looking around upon the earth, that depends upon thee, things 
of less consequence escape thy consideration. Wouldst thou 
deign forsooth, Prince, abandoning thy high position, to read 
verses composed in the unequal measure ? 13 It is no weight so 
trifling of the Roman name, that presses upon thee, and no 
burden so light is supported by thy shoulders that thou couldst 
occupy thy godlike majesty with my silly trifles, and exa- 
mine with thine own eyes my idle productions. At one mo- 
ment, Pannonia, at another, the Illyrian region, is to be sub- 
dued by thee ; and now the Rhsetian and the Thracian arms 
give grounds for apprehension. At another time, the Armenian 
sues for peace ; and now the Parthian horseman, with trem- 
bling hand, holds out to thee the bow and the captured stand- 
ards. At another time, Germany feels that thou hast grown 
young again in thy offspring, and in the place of the great 
Caesar, another Ceesar conducts the war. In fine, what never 
happened before, in the case of so great a whole, there is no 
part of thy empire that is insecure ; the City also, the care 
of thy laws, and attention to the public morals, which thou 
wishest to resemble thy own, fatigue thee. That leisure, which 
thou affordest to nations, falls not to thy lot, and with many, 
thou art waging war destructive of repose. 

Ought I, then, to be surprised if, oppressed by the weight of 

13 The unequal measure.'] — Ver. 220. Namely, Elegiac verse, wliieh 
consists of an Hexameter, or six feet line, alternately with a Pentameter, or 
line of five feet. 



282 THE TSTSTIA; |. . n. 

matters so important, tliou hast never perused these pastimes of 
mine ? But if (and would it had been so !) thou hadst perchance 
had leisure, thou wouldst in reading it have found nothing 
criminal in my Art of Love. I confess that these are not 
writings suited to a grave brow, and are not worthy to be 
read by a Prince so great ; but they are not, on that account, 
contrary to the precepts of the laws ; and they are for the 
edifying of the Roman women. That thou mayst not doubt 
to whom I address my writings, one little book of the three 
has these four lines :-*— 

" Be ye afar, ye with the little fillets on your hair, the mark 
of chastity; and thou long flounce, 14 which concealest the mid- 
dle of the foot ; we will sing nought but what is lawful, and 
thefts allowable ; and in my song there shall be nothing that 
is criminal.' ' And have I not scrupulously removed from this 
Art of Love those whom the lengthened gown, and the assump- 
tion of the fillet, forbid to be brought in contact with it ? 

But still, 15 the matron may make use of the arts that belong 
to others ; and even though she be not taught, she has the means 
of gaining information. Let the matron, then, read nothing 
at all, because, from every poem she can receive instruction 
how to misbehave. Whatever she glances upon, if she is at all 
inclined to sin, 16 thence will she adapt her morals to crime. Let 
her take up the Annals; 17 nothing is more uninviting than them: 
yet, in truth, there will she read how Ilia became a mother. 
Let her take up the hook in which the "ancestress of the line of 
iEneas" comes first; 18 she will find how the genial Venus be- 

14 Long Jlounce.] — Ver. 248. The Roman matrons wore a broad flounce 
with wide folds, sewed to the bottom of the dress, and reaching to the 
instep. The use of it was indicative of regard to modesty and propriety of 
manners. 

15 But still.'] — Ver. 253. He implies that Augustus is making this ob- 
jection, which he endeavours to answer, though, we must confess, not very 
successfully. 

16 hiclined to sin.] — Ver. 257. Or, in Pope's words, more famed than 
gallant, t is at heart a rake.' 

17 The Annals.] — Ver. 259. These, containing nothing beyond a mere 
table of events connected with the Roman people, written in ancient and 
uncouth language, would not be very likely to attract the attention of one 
in search of love stories- Yet even these, he says, to the impure in mind, 
would be not quite unproductive of nurture for the prurience of their 
thoughts. 

18 JEneas comes first.] — Ver. 261. Some suppose that he here alludes 
to the ^Eneid of Virgil. That does not appear to be the fact. He rather 



B. h.] OK, LAMENT OP OYID. 283 

came the ancestress of those descendants. I will descend 
lower (if only I may be allowed to proceed in order), to show 
that every kind of poetry can injure the mind. Yet, for that 
reason, every book should not be condemned. That thing is 
of no use which is not able to hurt as well. What is there more 
useful than fire ? Yet, if any one endeavours to burn a house, 
it is with fire that he provides his rash hands. The healing art 
sometimes takes away health, at other times, bestows it ; and it 
shows what herb is wholesome, and what is injurious. Both the 
cut-throat and the wary traveller is ready girt with the sword; but 
the one plans treachery, the other carries a protection for him- 
self. Eloquence is taught to plead the cause of the innocent; 
yet it protects the guilty, and presses hard on the guiltless. 

So, then, it will be clear, that my verses, if they are 
read in a proper spirit, can injure no one. But whoever it 
is that derives any idea of viciousness from them, he is in 
the wrong, and detracts too much from the credit of my 
writings. Suppose, however, that I confess it: the games 19 
as well afford incentives to vice. Order, then, the whole of the 
theatres to be swept away, which have given to many a one an 
opportunity for wickedness, when the sand of Mars is be- 
sprinkled on the hard ground. Let the Circus be abolished : 
the licence of the Circus is unsafe ; here sits the girl by the 
side of some strange man. Why are any porticos left open, 
when some women walk in them, that their lovers may meet 
them there? What spot is there more venerable than the 
temples ? If any woman has a turn for criminal pursuits, let 
her avoid these as well. When she shall be standing in the 
temple of Jove, there, in his temple, will it occur to her how 
many were made mothers by that God. It will occur to her, 
who pays respect to the neighbouring temple of Juno, how that 
Goddess was vexed by many a concubine. On beholding 
Pallas, she will enquire why the Virgin brought up Ericthonius, 
who derived his being from a criminal attempt. Suppose she 
enters the temple of mighty Mars, thy own gift, there, before his 

alludes to the poem of Lucretius, which commences with the very words 
here used hy him, ' iEneadum genitrix,' and in which the poet expatiates 
largely upon the attributes of Venus, or the creative power, a subject 
which the iEneid does not profess to treat of. 

19 The games.'] — Ver. 280. He alludes to the extreme licentiousness 
of the theatrical representations, which were sanctioned hy law. 



284 THE TEISTIA ; [b. II. 

doors, stands Venus, in conjunction with M ars, the Avenger. Sit- 
ting in the temple of Isis, she will ask why the daughter of Saturn 
drove her over the Ionian and the Bosphorean seas. In the case 
of Yenus, Anchises ; in that of Diana, the Latmian hero ; 20 and in 
the case of Ceres, Jasius, 21 will have to be made mention of. All 
these are able to lead perverted minds astray, and yet they are ail 
standing safe on their sites. But the first page warns the vir- 
tuous matrons away from the Art of Love, written for the 
wanton only. Whoever breaks in by force, where the priest 
does not allow her to go, forthwith, on that account is she 
accused of a crime that is forbidden. But it is not a crime to 
peruse wanton poems, although females of virtue may there 
read many things not to be put in practice. Ofttimes does 
the matron of severe aspect 22 look upon the females naked, 
and practising each kind of indelicate posture. The eyes of 
the Vestals behold the persons of the wanton, nor has that 
been any ground for punishment by their master. 

But why is there in my poetry an excess of wantonness ? or 
why does my book persuade any one to love ? That it is no- 
thing less than a sin, and a manifest fault, must be confessed. 
I grieve for thus perverting my talents and my judgment. 
Why was not rather that Troy, which fell by the weapons of 
Argos, harassed once again in my verses ? Why was I silent 
about Thebes, and the mutual slaughter of the brothers? 23 
and the seven gates, each of them under its chief? War- 
like Rome, too, was not sparing of material for me ; it is a 
labour of affection to recite the exploits of one's country. 
Lastly, Caesar, inasmuch as thou hast filled all places with thy 
glorious deeds, one portion selected from many might have 
been sung by me ; as the brilliant rays of the sun attract 
the eyes, so might thy deeds have attracted my feelings. 

20 The Latmian hero.'j—Yer. 299. Endymion, who was beloved by 
Diana, is thus called, from Latmus, a mountain of Caria. 

21 Jasius.'] — Ver. 300. He was the son of Jupiter and Electra, and the 
brother of Dardanus and Armenia, the wife of Cadmus. By his wife 
Gybele he was the father of Corybantus. The story was, that Plutus was 
the fruit of an adulterous intrigue between Ceres and Jasius, who was 
struck by the thunderbolts of Jove for his audacity. 

22 Severe aspect."] — Ver. 311. It is hardly credible that matrons of 
character can have been the willing spectators of the obscene representa- 
tions of the Floralia, to which allusion is here made. 

23 The brothers. .] — Ver. 319. He alludes to Eteocles and Polynices, the 
sons of (Edipus, who slew each other in single combat. 



B. ii.] OE, LAMENT OE OVID. 285 

Unjustly am I accused. A humble field is tended by me ; 
the other were a work requiring great fertility of invention. 
If, perchance, one ventures to sport on a little pond in a small 
boat, that is no reason for trusting one's-self on the ocean. 
Perhaps (and of that I am doubtful) I am well enough suited 
for trifling compositions, and am adapted for slight produc- 
tions ; but if thou shouldst order me to sing of the Giants sub- 
dued by the bolts of Jove, the weight would exceed my strength 
for the "attempt. It belongs to a mind richly endowed to treat 
of the mighty deeds of Ceesar, lest the work be overpowered 
by its subject. And yet I made the attempt ; but I seemed to 
be detracting from thy fame, and unrighteously to be a detri- 
ment to thy virtues. Again I resorted to my lighter labours, 
my youthful compositions : and with a fictitious passion was 
my breast smitten. I wish, indeed, that I had not ; but my 
destiny drew me on, and I exercised my ingenuity to my own 
destruction. Oh ! wretched being that I am, that ever I received 
instruction ! that my parents taught me, and that any letter 
ever arrested my eyes ! This wantonness rendered me hateful 
to thee, by reason of my books on the Art of Love, which thou 
didst suppose had been aimed against ties forbidden to their 
influence. But, under my instruction, the matrons did not learn 
furtive loves ; for no one is able to teach that of which he 
knows but little. I have so composed my love tales and my 
light poems, that no evil story ever wounded my reputation. 
There is no husband of the middle class that is in doubt 
whether he himself is really a father through any fault of mine. 
Believe me, my morals are far different from those of my 
poem ; my life is one of decency : my Muse is a sportive one. 

A great part, also, of my labours, that is untrue and fictitious, 
has allowed itself more license than ever its author did. My 
book, too, is no index of my mind, but is an honourable amuse- 
ment, that presents many things in apt expression for tickling 
the ear. If thus judged, Accius 24 would be a savage ; Terence 
would be a glutton; 25 those who sing of fierce wars must 
needs be ever embroiled. 

24 Accius.'] — Ver. 359. He was one of the older Roman poets, who 
wrote several tragedies, besides translating some of those of Sophocles into 
the Latin language. His tragedies were written in rugged and uncouth 
language, and this, together with the humble subjects they treated of p 
wauld form a ground for the epithet suggested by the poet. 

25 A glutton.'] — Yer. 359. Terence, the Roman comic writer^ was par- 



286 THE TEISTIA ; [b. ii. 

In fine, I am not the only one who has sung of voluptuous 
amours ; yet I am the only one that has received punishment 
for his love compositions. What precepts did the Teian muse 2C 
of Anacreon, the Lyric old bard, give, except how to unite love 
with abundance of wine? What did Lesbian Sappho 27 do, 
but teach the girls how to love ? And yet Sappho was safe, 
and he was unharmed. And to thee, descendant of Battus, 28 
it was no injury that thou thyself didst often confess thy gaieties 
to the reader. There is no play of the pleasing Menander 22 
without an amour, and yet he is accustomed to be read by 
youths and virgins. The Iliad itself, what is it but the case 
of a base adulteress, about whom there was a strife between 
the lover and the husband? What happens in it before the 
ilame conceived for Chryseis ? and how did the ravished 
damsel cause anger between the chieftains ? Or what is 
the Odyssey, but the case of one woman, sought, while her 
husband is away, by a host of suitors, to gratify their pas- 
sion ? Who but the Meeonian bard tells the story of Venus 
and Mars fastened together, and their two persons caught in 
a polluted bed ? Whence should we learn, but from the show- 
ing of great Homer, how two Goddesses 30 fell in love with their 
guest? Tragedy surpasses every style of composition in 
seriousness ; this as well, always has love for its subject. For 
what was there in the case of Hippolytus, but the flame of his 
blinded step-mother? By the love of her own brother is 
Canace celebrated. What besides ? Did not the son of 

ticularly successful in depicting parasites, gluttons, and selfish young men 
devoted solely to their own pleasures. 

26 The Teian Muse.~\ — Ver. 364. Anacreon, a Grecian lyric poet, was 
a native of Teos, a city of Ionia, in Asia. Some of his poems have sur- 
vived to our times. 

27 Lesbian Sappho.'] — Ver. 366. Sappho was a writer of love songs 
of a licentious character. She was a native of Lesbos, an island in the 
iEgean sea. 

28 Descendant of Battus.] — Ver. 367. He alludes to the poet Calli- 
machuf, who was descended from Battus, the founder of Cyrene. He 
sung the praises of his mistress, Lyde. 

29 Menander.] — Ver. 369. He was an Athenian comic poet of eminence. 
His works are lost, with the exception of some fragments ; but Terence is 
supposed to have borrowed largely from them. 

30 Two Goddesses.] — Ver. 380. Calypso and Circe, who, as Homer 
tells, successively fell in love with Ulysses. 



B. ii.] OK, LAMENT 01? OYID. 287 

Tantalus, with his ivory limb, carry her of Pisa 31 with Phrygian 
steeds, while Love gave speed to his chariot. Grief, caused 
by blighted love, made the mother stain the steel with her 
children's blood. Love suddenly changed the king and his 
concubine into birds, and her who, even now, a mother, laments 
her Itys. If a wicked brother had not loved Aerope, 32 we 
should not read of the horses of the Sun turning back. The 
impious Scylla, too, would not have obtained the buskin of 
tragedy, 33 had not love cut off the locks of her father. You 
who read of Electra and of Orestes, deprived of reason, 
read, too, of the crime of iEgisthus, and of the daughter of 
Tyndarus. And what shall I say of the grim subduer of 
the Chimeera, whose death a deceitful hostess 34 was nearly 
causing ? Why should I mention Hermione ? Why the virgin 
daughter of Schoeneus ? 35 And why thee, priestess of Phoebus, 
loved by the Prince of Mycense ? Why mention Danae and 
her daughter-in-law, 30 and the mother of Lyseus ? 37 And why, 
Heemon, and her, for whom 38 two nights were united ? Why 

21 Her of Pisa*] — Ver. 386. Pelops, the son of Tantalus, having con- 
quered (Enomaus, carried off his daughter, Hippodamia, from Pisa, a city 
of Arcadia, and made her his wife. His steeds were Psilla and Harpina, 
which he "brought from Phrygia. 

32 Aerope.'] — Ver. 391. She was the wife of Atreus, and was guilty of 
incest with her brother Thyestes. 

33 The buskin of tragedy.'] — Ver 393. The ' cothurnus/ or buskin, 
was worn by the performers of tragedy, to render the person taller, and 
more august in appearance. Hence, the expression is often used to 
denote a lofty and florid style of composition. 

34 A deceitful hostess.] — Ver. 398. Sthenoboea, the wife of Prcetus, 
being unable to captivate Bellerophon, brought a false accusation against 
him, and he only escaped through the known purity of his character. 

35 Daughter of Schoeneus.] — Ver. 399. Atalanta w T as the daughter of 
Schceneus, King of the Isle of Scyros. Hermione was the daughter of 
Menelaus and Helen, and was betrothed to Orestes, the son of Agamemnon. 

36 Daughter-in-law.] — Ver. 401. Andromeda, who was the wife of 
Perseus, the son of Danae. 

37 Mother of Lyceus.] — Ver. 401. This was Semele, the mother of 
Lyseus, or Bacchus. Hsemon was the lover of Antigone, and when she 
was put to death by the order of Creon, he stabbed himself at her tomb. 

38 Her for whom.] — Ver. 402. He here alludes to Alcmen a, the wife of 
Amphitryon, who was the mother of Hercules by Jupiter. When the God 
was enjoying her society, he is said to have united two successive nights. 
Admetus was the son-in-law of Pelias, having married his daughter 
Alcestis. 



288 THE TEISTIA: 



[b. ii. 



the son-in-law of Pelias ? "Why Theseus ? And why Prote- 
silaus, him who was the first of the Greeks to touch the 
Trojan ground ? To these be added lole, 39 and the mother of 
Pyrrhus ; the wife of Hercules as well, Hylas, 40 and the Trojan 
boy. Time would fail me, should I recount the loves of 
Tragedy, and scarcely would the whole of my book contain 
the bare names. 

Tragedy, too, is distorted by obscene jokes, and contains 
many expressions which violate decency. It is no reproach, too, 
to the author, who, in his verses, has represented Achilles as 
in love, and stopping short in his warlike deeds. Aris tides 
connected with his name the crimes of Miletus ; and yet 
Aristides was not banished from his city. Nor yet was Eubius, 
the compiler of impure stories, who described how abortions 
are produced. Nor was he exiled who lately composed the 
Sybaritic poem ; nor yet those who have not kept silence on 
their own intrigues. These are even mingled with the memo- 
rials of the learned, and by the munificence of our Princes are 
they made public. 

And not only by foreign armour shall I be defended ; the 
Roman writings as well have many a wanton passage. As the 
grave Ennius sang of Mars with his own mouth, Ennius excel- 
ling in talent, yet rude in his management of it ; as Lucretius, 
too, explains the principles of blazing fire, and prophesies that 
the threefold work will one day perish, 41 so, too, many a time, 
was his sweetheart, whose fictitious name was Lesbia, sung of by 
the wanton Catullus. 42 And, not content with that, he published 
many of his amours, in which he himself confessed his own adul- 
tery. Equal, too, in degree, and like in character, was the licen- 

39 lole.] — Ver. 405. She was the daughter of Eurytus, King of (Echalia, 
and eloped with Hercules after he had slain her father. Deidamia, the 
daughter of Lycomedes, King of Scyros, was the mother of Pyrrhus by 
Achilles. 

40 Hylas. 1 — Ver 406. He was a boy beloved by Hercules; being 
lost by him in Ionia, he was supposed to have been changed into a foun- 
tain. 

41 Will one day perish.'] — Ver. 426. The object of the writings of 
Lucretius is to prove that the world is not eternal, but that matter must 
perish. By the ' threefold work,' he means the earth, the sea, and the 
heavens. 

42 Catullus.] — Ver. 427. Catullus was a Roman poet, some of whose 
writings have come down to our time. He celebrates his mistress, whose 
real name was Ciodia, under the epithet of Lesbia, 



B , n .] OR, LAMENT OP OVID. 289 

tiousness of the little Calvus, 43 who revealed his stolen caresses 
in various songs. Why shall I mention the poems of Ticida 44 
and of Memmius, with whom names cannot be found for their 
subjects, or decency for their names, when found. Cinna, 
too, is the companion of these, and Anser, more lascivious even 
than Cinna, and the sportive work of Cornificius, and the 
similar one of Gato. Those, too, of whose books, she who 
before was concealed under the name of Perilla, is the sub- 
ject, called by her own name of Metella. He as well, who 
brought the ship Argo 45 into the Phasian waters, was not able to 
be silent upon the stealthy joys of his intrigues. No less im- 
pure are the verses of Hortensius, nor less impure are those of 
Servius. Who could hesitate to follow the example of names 
so great 1 Sisenna translated Aristides ; and yet it did him no 
harm to insert wanton jests in his history. It was no disgrace, 
too, to Gallus to sing of Lycoris, but it ivas, for him not to 
have held his tongue, when he had taken too much wine. 46 

Tibullus 47 thinks it is a difficult thing to believe a woman 
on her oath, and similarly with regard to the denials she makes 
about herself to her husband. He confesses, too, that he 
has taught her how to deceive her protector: and he says that 
he, to his sorrow, has been injured through his own precepts. 
He says that he has many a time squeezed a hand, on the pre- 

43 The little Calvus. .] — Ver. 431. Calvus was a Roman poet and 
orator, who contested the palm of eloquence with Cicero. He was 
the friend of Catullus, and was very short in stature, whence his present 
epithet. 

44 Ticida.~\ — Ver. 433. He was a Roman poet, who wrote Elegiac 
verses in praise of his mistress Metella, under the assumed name of Perilla. 
Memmius, Cinna, Anser, Cornificius, and Cato were, all of them, writers 
of a similar character. 

45 The ship Argo.'] — Ver. 439. Varro Att acinus, a Roman poet, wrote 
in praise of Leucadia, his mistress. He wrote a poem on the Argonautic 
expedition, in imitation of that of Apollonius Rhodius. 

46 Too much wine.'] — Ver. 446. Gallus, a Roman poet, having been 
entrusted with certain secrets of the Emperor Augustus, betrayed them in 
his moments of inebriety, and was, in consequence, punished with exile 
and confiscation of his property. He composed five books in praise of a 
damsel, named Lycoris. Sisenna, above mentioned, was a learned orator 
and historian of Rome. 

47 Tibullus.] — Ver. 447. Tibullus was a Roman poet of considerable 
merit. Ovid alludes to the fact of his having written of his mistress, Delia, 
to the following effect : — * She denies many a thing ; but 'tis difficult to 
believe her ; for even about me does she make denials to her husband.' 



290 THE TRISTIA ; [b. ii. 

text as though he was praising the jewel or the signet of its 
owner. And, as he tells, many a time has he conversed with 
his fingers and with signs, and drawn the silent hints on 
the surface of the table. He teaches, too, by means of what 
extracts the paleness may be removed from the features, which 
is usually caused by the pressure of a kiss. Besides, he asks 
the too careless husband even to watch him, that the wife may 
have the less chance of sinning. He knows at whom the dog 
is barking, while he is walking up and down alone ; and why 
he spits so many times, as a signal, before the closed doors. 
And many a precept does he give for such guilty thefts ; he 
teaches, too, by what means wives may systematically deceive 
their husbands. And yet this was no injury to him ; Tibullus 
is read, and amuses, and was already well known when thou 
wast made Prince. Thou wilt find, too, the same precepts in 
the pleasing Propertius ; 48 and yet he was not punished with 
the slightest disgrace. 

Of these I was the successor, since honour bids me not men- 
tion many excellent names of persons now living. I was not 
afraid, I confess, that in the track where so many ships had 
gone, one would be wrecked, when the rest were all saved. 

The skill has been described by some, which is requisite for 
playing at games of hazard, 49 and this sin against our ancestors 
is no small crime. They teach what is the value of the throws 
on the dice ; how you may make the most at a throw, or how 

48 Propertius. ,] — Ver. 465. He was the most graceful of all the Roman 
writers of Elegiac measure ; but, like those before mentioned, amatory sub- 
jects were his principal theme. 

49 Games of hazard.'] — Ver. 471. ' Alea' seems to have been a term 
applied to all games involving hazard, and depending on chance. The 
1 talus' was originally the knuckle-bone of a sheep or goat. These were 
imitated, for the purposes of gaming, in ivory, gold, silver, bronze, glass, 
and agate. They were played with by women, boys, and old men. They 
were originally used without marks, and, being thrown in the air, were 
caught on the back of the hand. In later times they were used in games 
of chance, and for that purpose bore numbers. They had four flat faces 
and two curved ones. On the flat faces were fourteen points ; the numbers 
on the opposite sides being ace and six, and three and four. Four * tali* 
were generally used, and they were thrown from a dice-box, which was 
called * fritillus, , * turricula/ ' pyrgus,' or ' phimus.' The ace, which was 
called ' unio,' was the most unlucky number ; and, while ' Venus' was the 
highest cast of a set of four ' tali,' ' canis' was the name of the worst 
throw. Games of chance were forbidden in the early times of the Roman 
Republic ; and the character of a gamester was held in extreme contempt. 



E . m /j OR, LAMENT OF OYID. 291 

you may escape the losing numbers ; how many numbers the 
gamester's cube 50 has ; in what manner it is proper to throw 
when the wanting number 51 is called, and in what manner to 
move the throws ; how, too, the man of the opposite colour 
proceeds onward in a straight line, when the piece is lost that 
lies in the middle between two enemies ; how the player may un- 
derstand when rather to follow, and how to recall his piece when 
advanced; that, as it retreats in safety, it may not again advance 
unprotected. There is a little board, provided with three 
pebbles, on which, to bring one's own men in a straight line 
gives the victory. And other games there are (T will not now 
recount them all), which are wont to waste a valuable thing, 
namely, our time. And see how another sings of the shape and 
the throw of the ball; 52 another teaches the art of swimming ; 
another of bowling the hoop. 53 The art of dyeing in colours has 
been taught by others ; and another writer has laid down the 
law for feasting and good fellowship. Another one points out 
the clay from which cups are made, and he informs us what 
kind of vessel is fit for the flowing wine. Such sportive trifles 

50 The gamester's cube."]— Ver. 475. 'Tessera' received its name pro- 
bably from the Greek word rkecrapeg, ' four.' They resembled the cubes or 
dice of the present day, and were used in sets of four. 

51 The wanting number.'] — Ver. 475. This seems to be the meaning of 
the word ' distanti,' which has caused considerable doubt among the com- 
mentators. The player, in his anxiety, seems in those days, as now T , to 
have called for the desired number. The poet appears to allude to some 
cheating directions given by the writer, used to obtain favourable casts by 
due management of the dice, in throwing them. The game of ' duodecim 
scripta,' or ' twelve points,' was played with ' calculi,' or ' lapilli,' ' coun- 
ters,' of different colours, which were moved, according to the throws of 
the dice, perhaps in a manner not unlike our game of backgammon ; the 
meaning of the passage is, however, involved in considerable obscurity. 

52 The ball.~\ — Ver. 485. Games with the ' pila,' or ■ ball,' were those 
played with the ' pila trigonalis ; ' so called, probably, from the players 
standing in a triangle ; the ' foliis' was a large ball inflated, and used for 
football ; * paganica' was a similar one, but harder, being stuffed with 
feathers, and was used by the rustics. ' Harpastum' was a small ball 
used by the Greeks, and was scrambled for as soon as it came to the 
ground. 

53 The hoop."] — Ver. 486. The hoop of the Roman boys was a bronze 
ring, which sometimes had bells attached to it. It was impelled by means 
of a metal hook attached to a wooden handle, similar to that in use at the 
present day. The game was borrowed by the Romans from the Greeks, 
and was one of the exercises of the Gymnasium. 

u2 



292 THE TEISTIA ; [b. II. 

as these are composed in the month of smoky December, and 
no one has received injury from having composed them. 

Deceived by these considerations, I have made my verses 
the reverse of sad ; but a sad retribution has been the result 
of my jests. In fact, I see not one out of so many writers, 
of whom his Muse has been the ruin ; I am the only one 
to be found. But, suppose I had written Mimes, 54 with 
their obscene jokes, which are always amenable to the charge 
of containing a love story ? In these, constantly does the 
spruce adulterer strut about ; and the cunning wife plays 
tricks upon her booby husband. The marriageable virgin, 
the matron, the husband, the boy, are all spectators of these : 
and a great part of the Senate is there. And it is not enough 
for the ears to be polluted with filthy language : the eye 
is accustomed to put up with many indecent sights. When 
the lover has outwitted the husband by any new device, 
they clap aloud, and the victory is granted him with great 
applause. The less its utility, the more lucrative is the stage 
to the poet, and the Prsetor buys 55 abuses of such enormity at 
no small cost. Examine, Augustus, the expenses of thy 
games ; many such as these wilt thou find that have been 
bought for thee at a heavy price. At these thou hast been a 
spectator, and hast many a time given them for a spectacle, so 
kindly disposed in every way is thy Majesty. With thy own 
eyes, too, which all the world follows, sitting at thy ease, thou 
hast looked upon the adulteries of the stage. If it is allowable 
to write Mimes, that imitate vicious actions, a less punish- 
ment is surely due to my case. Do their boards 56 ensure safety 
for this kind of composition, and is the stage privileged to allow 

34 Mimes."] — Ver. 497. The Roman Mimes were either parodies 
and burlesques of serious circumstances, or imitations of indecent and 
obscene occurrences. They differed from Comedy, in consisting more of 
gestures and mimicry than of spoken dialogue, which was interspersed in 
various parts of the representation, while the action continued uninter- 
ruptedly from the beginning to the end of the piece. They were originally 
exhibited at funerals, when one or more persons in burlesque represented 
the life of the deceased person. They were afterwards performed in the 
public theatres, as well as in private houses. Decius Laberius, and Publius 
Syrus, were the most distinguished writers of them. 

55 The Pr&tor buys.] — Ver. 508. It was the duty of the Praetor, or 
the iEdiles, to provide mimes and plays at the public expense, for repre- 
sentation at the games and festivals. The Andria of Terence was acted at 
the Megalesian games. 

56 Their boards.] — Ver, 517. ' Sua pulpita.' The 'pulpitum' means 



E. ii.] OH, LAMENT OF OTID. 293 

in its Mimes whatever it pleases ? My songs, as well, have 
many a time been represented in the dance ; 57 many a time 
have they arrested thy attention. 

As in truth, in thy abode the ancient figures of heroes are 
resplendent, painted by the artist's hand ; so, in a certain spot 
there, there is a little picture, which shows the variety of pos- 
tures and figures which belong to Venus. And as the son of 
Telamon sits, expressing his anger in his countenance, and the 
barbarous mother 3b is conceiving crime in her very eyes ; so 
dripping Venus is wringing her wet hair with her fingers, and 
seems but now covered with the waters that gave her birth. 
*■ Others recite warfare, armed with its blood-stained weapons ; 
some, too, sing the exploits of thy family, some thy own. 
Penurious nature confined me within narrow limits, and gave 
but little strength to my genius. And yet he who was the for- 
tunate author of thy iEneid introduced his arms and his hero 59 
to a Tyrian intrigue : and no subject is more read of, through- 
out the whole work, than love united by unlawful ties. The 
same poet had before, when a youth, sportively related in his 
verse the soft flames of Phillis and of Amaryllis. I, long since, 
erred by one composition ; a fault that is not recent endures a 
punishment inflicted thus late. I had already published my 
poems, when of Equestrian rank, so many times, according to 
my privilege, in review, I passed thee unmolested, who, at the 
very time, was the inquirer into criminal charges. Is it, then, 
possible that the writings which, in my want of prudence, I 
supposed would not injure me when young, have now been 
my ruin in my old age? This late vengeance for a work 
written so long since, is superfluous, and the punishment is far 
removed from the time when it was merited. 

That thou mayst not, however, suppose that all my works 

that part of the stage which was nearest to the orchestra, and where the 
actors stood when they were addressing the audience. 

57 In the dance.'] — Ver. 519. Love scenes, taken from the mythology, 
were acted in pantomimic dance, to the recitation of words written by the 
poets of the day. This text was called the ' canticum/ and was frequently 
written in the Greek tongue. Ovid here shows that he had been the com 
poser of * cantica ' for the public amusement. 

58 The barbarous mother.'] — Ver. 526. Medea, who slew her children 
in revenge against Jason. Her story has been already referred to in the 
Notes. 

59 Arms and his hero.] — Ver. 534. He here alludes to the commencing 
lines of the JEneid of Virgil, 'Anna virunique cano.' 



og4 THE TEISTIA ; [b. II. 

are thus loose, I have often fitted ample sails 60 to my bark ; 
I have written the books of six months Fasti, and themselves 
as many in number : 61 and each book comes to an end with its 
month. My fate interrupted that work ; that work, too, de- 
dicated under thy name, Csesar, and consecrated to thee. I have 
produced also a poem of kings 62 for the tragic buskin ; and 
that buskin employs such expressions as, in its gravity, it ought 
to use. The transformation, too, of bodies into new shapes 
has been sung of by me, although a finishing hand has been 
wanting to the work. And I wish that thou wouldst relieve thy 
mind but a little of its anger, and order, at thy leisure, a few 
lines of this work to be read to thee. A few lines, in which, 
commencing from the earliest origin of the world I have 
brought the work down, Ceesar, to thy times : thou wouldst then 
behold how much spirit thou thyself hast given me, and with 
what devotion of mind I sing of thee and thine. 

No one have I pulled to pieces in spiteful verses, nor does 
my poetry contain a charge against any one. In my inno- 
cence, I have abstained from witticisms steeped m gall ; not a 
letter is there tainted with a venomous sarcasm. Among so 
many thousands of our people, so many thousands of our 
writings, I am the only one whose own Muse 63 has been his rum. 
I do not suppose, then, that any Roman will rejoice at my mis- 
fortunes, but rather, that many have taken them to heart. 1- 
transcends my belief, that any one could trample on me, 
when prostrate, if anv regard has been had to my innocence. 

On these and other considerations, I entreat that thy divine 
Majesty may be moved, Father, thou care and salvation 
of thy country. I pray not to return to Ausonia, except, per- 
haps, at a future day, when thou shalt be prevailed on, by the 
lengthened duration of my punishment. I pray for a sater 
place of exile, and one a little less disturbed, that my punish- 
ment may be commensurate with my transgression. 

eo Fitted ample *atfe.]— Ver. 548. He alludes to his Metamorphoses, 
which he composed in the Hexameter, or Heroic measure; and to his 
Fasti, which treat of more serious subjects. 

6i Many in number.]-Ver. 549. This possibly is the proper transla- 
tion of a line which has caused much trouble to commentators. In the Me 
of the poet prefixed to the work, will be found some remarks on this line, 
and its possible meaning. 

62 A poem of kings.-]— Ver. 553. He here speaks of the tragedy of 
Medea, which he composed, but which has not come down to us. 

63 Whose own Muse.-]— Ver. 568. Literally, ' my own Calliope,' the 
name of one Muse being used instead of them all. 



,f.] OK, LAMENT OP OTID. 295 



BOOK THE THIRD. 



ELEGY I. 



The Poet sends his book to Rome, in neglected and sordid attire, and 
represents it as wandering through various parts of the city, and praying 
Augustus to pardon the Poet, pining in exile. When it finds that it is 
rejected by all, it requests the hands of the Plebeians to receive it, 
and afford it a place of shelter. 

I, the book of a trembling exile, sent hither, am come to this 
City ; give me a soothing hand in my weariness, friendly reader ; 
fear not that by chance I should prove a disgrace to thee ; 
there is no line in this sheet that gives precepts for love. 
The fortune of my master is not of that kind that he ought, 
in his wretchedness, to gloss it over with any jesting. That 
work, too, which once, to his cost, he sportively composed in 
his youthful years, he now, too late, alas ! condemns and 
abhors. Look at my contents : thou wilt see nothing here 
but what is sorrowful, in verses befitted to their circum- 
stances. That my limping verses 1 halt in each alternate line, 
either the nature of the measure, or the length of my journey, 
is the cause. I am neither yellow with cedar oily nor 
smoothed with the pumice stone ; His because I was ashamed 
to be more gay than my master. The reason why my 
smeared letters have blots scattered over them is, that the poet 
himself has disfigured the work with his tears. If, perchance, 
anything shall appear not to be expressed in the Latin idiom, 
the land in which he wrote me was a barbarous one. Tell 
me, my readers, if it is not a trouble to you, whither I must 
go, and what abodes in this City I, a stranger book, must seek. 

1 My limping verses."] — Ver. 11. Alluding to the alternating measure 
of the Hexameter and Pentameter lines. The remark is but a poor attempt 
at wit. 



296 THE TBISTIA ; [b. III. 

When I had stealthily said thus much with a stammering 
tongue, there was hardly even one person who would show me 
the way. " May the Gods 2 grant thee what they have not given 
my parent, to he able to live at thy ease in thy own country. 
Lead on, I pray, for I follow ; although, weary, I am come by 
land and sea from a distant region." He obeyed my request, 
and conducting me, he said, " This is the Forum of Caesar ; 
this is the way which derives its name from the Sacred rites. 3 
This is the shrine of Vesta, which contains the Palladium 
and the eternal fire ; this was the little palace of the ancient 
Numa." Then, bearing to the right, he said, " That is the gate 
of the Palatium ; this is Jupiter Stator's temple : on this spot 
was Rome first founded." While I was admiring each object, 
I beheld a portal gorgeous with shining arms, and a habita- 
tion worthy of a Deity. " Is this the house of Jove V said I, 
for a wreath of oak-leaves caused a presentiment in my mind 
for taking it to be such. When I learned who was its owner, 
I said, " I am not deceived, and it is true that this is the house 
of the great Jove. But why is the gate wreathed with the laurel 
fastened to it, and why does the overshadowing tree surround 
the doors of majesty ? Is it because this one house has deserved 
everlasting triumphs ? or is it because it has been ever beloved 
by the Leucadian God? 4 Is it that it is festive itself, or be- 
cause it makes everything joyful? or is that an emblem 
of the peace which it has bestowed on all lands ? As the 
laurel is always green, and is not plucked with withering 
leaves ; has that house, in like manner, perpetual glory ? The 
cause of the wreath thus placed above, testified by an in- 
scription, declares that the citizens were saved by his aid. 
Add, most excellent Father, one citizen to the number of the 
saved ; one who, banished afar, lies prostrate in the remotest 
regions. In him, not crirninality, but his own inadvertence, gave 
occasion for that punishment, which he confesses himself 

2 May the Gods."] — Ver. 23. These are supposed to be the words of 
the Book to the person who has pointed out to it the way. 

3 The Sacred rites.] — Ver. 25. The * via Sacra' received that name 
from the treaty being there concluded between Romulus and Tatius, which 
was attended by the performance of sacrifice. 

4 The Leucadian God.'] — Ver. 42. Apollo is so called, from a promon- 
tory in the isle of Leucadia, where Augustus consecrated a temple to him, 
after the battle of Actium. 



E. in.] OB, LA.MENT OF OVID. 297 

to have deserved. Wretched me ; I both dread the place, and 
I venerate its master, and the writing on me shakes with tre- 
mulous fear. Dost thou perceive how my paper becomes white 
with a pallid colour ? Dost thou behold how my alternating 
feet tremble ? That thou, house of Caesar, one day appeased 
by my parent, mayst always be seen under the same masters, 
is my prayer.' * 

Thence, in similar manner, I was led by lofty steps to the white 
temple, situate on high, of Apollo the unshorn God ; where the 
descendants of Belus 5 and their barbarous father, with his drawn 
sword, stand as statues, alternately with the columns of foreign 
marble ; and where, those things which the ancients and the 
moderns have conceived in their learned breasts, are made 
public for the inspection of readers. 6 I sought my brothers, 
those, forsooth, excepted, whom my parent would fain wish he 
had never begotten. As I was seeking them in vain, the 
keeper appointed over that place ordered me to leave the 
holy spot. 

I turned my steps to another temple, adjoining to the 
neighbouring theatre; this, too, was not allowed to be ap- 
proached by my feet. Liberty did not permit me to touch her 
halls, which, first of all, were thrown open 7 for the reception 
of learned works. The destinies of my wretched author ex- 
tend to his progeny, and we, his children, suiFer the exile which 
he himself has endured. Perhaps Caesar, prevailed upon in 
length of time, will one day be less severe with us and with 
him. Ye Gods, I pray, and thou Caesar too, ( indeed, to the 
rest I direct not my entreaties), listen, most powerful God, to 
my prayers. Meanwhile, since a public place has been denied 
me, let it be allowed me to lurk in some private spot. And 
do you, hands of the Plebeians, if it is permitted, receive my 
verses, ashamed through the disgrace of their rejection. 

5 Descendants of Belus."] — Ver. 62. The Danaides are so called, as 
Belus was the father of Danaus, of whom they were the daughters. 

6 Inspection of readers.] — Ver. 64. He alludes to the Library which 
Augustus had founded on the Palatine hill, in a wing of his palace, and 
from which the works of Ovid were excluded. 

7 Thrown open.]— Ver. 71. Asinius Pollio founded the Temple of 
Liberty, and in it established the first public library at Rome. 



298 THE TRISTIA ; [b. III. 



ELEGY II. 

The Poet laments his destiny, which has compelled him in exile to visit 
the Scythian regions, and he complains that neither Apollo nor the 
Muses aided him, who was their priest. He says, that his life is spent 
in tears and lamentation, and entreats the Gods to permit him to die. 

Was it then ordained, by my destiny, that I should visit 
Scythia and the land which lies under the Lycaonian pole ? 
And did not you, Pierian maids, nor thou, son of Latona, 
a learned body, give aid to your priest ? Is it of no avail to 
me, that I sportively composed without any real ground of 
offence, and that my Muse was more wanton than my mode of 
life ? But Pontus, pinched with perpetual frost, confines me, 
after I have undergone many a danger, by sea and by land. 
I, who avoided business, and was born to careless ease, who 
formerly was delicate, and unable to endure fatigue, am now 
suffering in the extreme : and yet neither could seas without 
harbours, nor varied modes of travel, put an end to me. 
My mind bore up, too, under my misfortunes ; for, from it, my 
body derived strength, and endured things almost beyond 
endurance. 

But while I was tossed to and fro by wind and waves, 
occupation beguiled my cares and the sadness of my heart. 
When my w r anderings were concluded, and the fatigue of 
travelling had ceased, and the land of my exile was reached 
by me, then my only pleasure was in weeping, and a 
shower flowed from my eyes, not less than the stream from the 
wintry snows. The Roman City and my home recur to me, 
and longing for my former haunts, and whatever remains 
connected with me in that City, now lost to me. Ah, wretched 
me ! that so oft the gate of my tomb should have been 
knocked at, and yet at no time opened ! Why did I escape 
so many weapons, and why did no storm, when so often 
threatening, overwhelm my wretched head ? 

Ye Gods, whom I experience as too constant in your hostility, 
whom one Divinity has as partners in his wrath, urge on, I 
pray, my lingering destiny, and forbid the gates of death 
to be longer closed to me. 



E. in.] OK, LAMENT OF OYID. 299 



ELEGY III. 

Ovid, writing to his wife, from his place of exile, excuses himself, because 
the letter is written in handwriting not his own. He says that it is a 
matter of necessity, on account of the ill health with which he is 
afflicted ; and he then enlarges upon his miseries. Of all these, he says 
that the greatest is, to be debarred from her society. He gives direc- 
tions for his bones to be carried to Rome in a little urn, and composes 
an Epitaph to be inscribed thereon. 

If, perchance, you are wondering why this letter of mine is 
written by the hand of another, 'tis because I was ill. Ill, 
too, at the very extremity of an unknown region, and almost 
in doubt of my life. What, do you suppose, are my feelings, 
now placed here in this dreadful country, between the Sauro- 
matae and the Getse ? I can neither endure the open air, nor 
can I accustom myself to the water here ; and the country 
itself is repulsive to I know not what degree. My habitation 
is not sufficiently convenient ; the food here is unsuited for 
an invalid, and there is no one to relieve disease by the art of 
Apollo. There is no friend nigh to console me, no one to be- 
guile my moments with his conversation, as they slowly creep 
along. I am lying here worn out, among the remotest tribes 
and regions ; and whatever is at a distance, now recurs to me, 
thus indisposed. And though all things so recur ; yet you, 
my wife, are chief of all, and occupy more than your equal 
share in my heart. I address you far away ; my voice names 
you only ; no night, no day comes to me without you. They 
even say, that I speak so wildly, that your name is ever 
on my wandering lips. If at any time, my mouth being closed, 
my voice fails me, scarcely to be restored by pouring wine 
down my throat, any one should tell me that his mistress is 
come, I should arise at once, and the hope of seeing you would 
be a source of strength to me. 

I am then in doubts as to my life ; are you, perchance, for- 
getful of me, there, at a distance, passing a happy life ? You 
are not doing so, I affirm it ; I am sure, dearest one ! that 
without me life is only passed in sadness by you. 

If, however, my fate has completed the number of years 
which it was destined to complete, and the end of my life is so 
very near at hand, how grand a thing was it, ye great Gods, to 
spare a man on the point of death ! at least, I might have re- 
reived sepulture in my native land. Either my punishment 



300 THE TBISTIA ; [b. ill. 

might have been delayed to the moment of my death, or an 
accelerated end might have forestalled my exile. Unscathed, 
I might but lately have well left this world in happiness ; but 
now, my life has been granted me, that I might die an exile. 

Shall I then depart, so far away in unknown regions? and will 
death be embittered by the very spot ? Will my body not waste 
away on my wonted couch ? will there be no one to lament me at 
my sepulture ? and will not a few moments be added to my 
life, as the tears of my wife fall upon my face ? And shall I 
give no last injunctions ? And shall no friendly hand close 
my failing eyes, amid the sobs attending my last moments ? 
But shall barbarian earth cover this head, unlamented, without 
funereal rites, and without the honour of a tomb ? 

And will you not, when you hear of it, be afflicted to the 
greatest degree ; and will you not beat your faithful bosom with a 
trembling hand ? And will you not, as you vainly stretch your 
arms in this direction, call upon the departed name of your 
wretched husband ? Yet desist from tearing your cheeks, and 
rend not your hair. I shall not then, my life, 8 have been torn 
from you for the first time. When I left my country, fancy 
that then I died ; that was the first and the more grievous death 
to me. Now, if you but could, (but you cannot), rejoice, best 
of wives, that my many troubles are ended in death. As far as 
you can, diminish your griefs, by enduring them with a coura- 
geous heart, evils against which you have already had your 
mind too well prepared. And oh ! that my soul would perish 
with my body, and that no part of me would escape the con- 
suming pile ! For if my immortal spirit soars aloft into the 
vacant air, and the words of the Samian sage 9 are true, a 
Roman shade will be wandering amid Sarmatian ghosts, and 
will ever be a stranger amid uncivilized spirits. 

Yet do you cause my bones to be brought back in a little urn, 
and thus I shall not be an exile, even when dead. No one for- 
bids thee. The Theban sister placed her slain brother in the 
tomb, even when the king forbade it. 10 And do you mingle 

8 My life.]—Ver. 52. 'Lux mea,' is literally, 'my light;' it may be 
translated ' my life,' or * my angel.' 

9 The Samian sage.^—Ver. 62. Namely, Pythagoras, who was a native 
of Samos, and taught the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and of 
its inhabiting various bodies in succession. 

10 When the king forbade &.]— Ver. 68. Antigone, in spite of the 
orders of Creon, buried the body of her brother, Eteocles, and was put to 
death for this act of affection. 



E. iv.] • OK, LAMENT OP OVID. 301 

theni with leaves and powdered amomum, 11 and place them, 
when inurned, in the ground near the City. And cut an inscrip- 
tion in large characters on the marble of my tomb, which the 
traveller may read with glancing eye : — " I who he here, the 
poet Naso, the sportive composer of tender loves, was undone 
through my own genius. And let it not be a hardship fot 
thee, the passer-by, who has felt what is love, to say, 'May the 
bones of Naso repose herein peace.' " 

This is enough for my inscription ; for, indeed, my books 
are greater and more lasting memorials of me. And these, I 
trust, although they have injured him, will give fame and 
lasting years to the author. But do you perform the funereal 
rites for me when dead, and offer chaplets wet with your tears. 
Although the fire shall have changed my body into ashes, yet 
the sad dust will be sensible of your pious affection. 

Fain would I write more ; but my voice, weary with speaking, 
and my parched tongue, deny me strength to dictate. Receive 
the farewell uttered by me, perhaps for the last time, and which 
applies not to the lot of him who sends it you. 



ELEGY IV. 

The Poet advises his dearest friend, whom he is afraid to name, to avoid 
the abodes of the great, and the society of the powerful ; and says, that 
though they have it in their power to help others, they give no assist- 
ance, but rather cause injury. He then extols the constancy of his 
friend, which has never flagged in the time of adversity ; and recounting 
the miseries of his exile, he entreats his friends to give him all the as- 
sistance in their power. 

Oh thou ! always beloved by me, but especially tried in adversity, 
after my fortunes were ruined ; if thou puttest any faith in a 
man taught by experience, live for thyself, and keep at a 
distance from the names of the great. Live for thyself, and, 
so far as thou canst, avoid splendour. It is from a resplendent 
heaven that the ruthless lightning descends. For although 
the powerful alone are able to aid, if one of them can do thee 
harm, he would not choose rather to do thee a service. The sail- 

11 Amomum.'] — Ver. 69. This was a small shrub found in Armenia, 
with fruit like a cluster of grapes, and leaves like the white vine, of which 
the Romans made a fragrant ointment. It was used in the process of em- 
balming ; the word ' mummy ' is a corruption of ' amomum/ 



302 THE TBISTIA ; [b. hi. 

yard, hanging low, escapes the wintry storms, and wide sails 
cause more fear than small ones. Thou heholdest how 
light cork floats on the surface of the water, whereas the 
heavyweight sinks, together with itself ] the net attached thereto. 
If I, now the adviser, had only been formerly advised of these 
things, I, perhaps, should now have been in the City in which 
I ought to be. While I lived in intimacy with thee, while a 
gentle breeze was bearing me on, this bark of mine ran through 
still waters. The man that falls on smooth ground (scarcely, 
however, does such a thing happen), falls so, that when he has 
touched the ground, he can rise again ; but the wretched 
Elpenor, 12 falling from the top of the house, met his king as a 
miserable phantom. Why did it happen that Daedalus waved 
his wings in safety, whereas Icarus impressed the boundless 
waters with his name ? It is because the latter soared aloft, 
and the former flew at a more humble distance. And yet did 
not they each of them have wings for himself? 

Believe me, he who has the good fortune to escape notice lives 
the happiest life, and every one ought to live within his means. 
Eumedes 13 would not have been deprived of his son if, in his 
folly, he had not hankered after the horses of Achilles. And 
Merops 14 wouldnot have seen his son in flames, and his daughters 
changed into trees, had he, as being his father, owned Phaeton. 
Do thou, too, always shun what is too lofty, and, remembering 
my determination, gather in thy sails. For thou deservest to 
pass along the course of life without a stumbling foot, and to 
enjoy a happier lot. That I should entertain these wishes for 
thee, thou deservest for thy kind affection, and thy fidelity 
that will adhere to me at all times. I beheld thee, bewailing 
my destiny, with such a countenance as may be supposed to 
have been presented by my own visage. I beheld thy tears 

12 Elpenor.~\ — Ver. 19. When Ulysses and his companions were fleeing 
from the realms of Circe, Elpenor, who was intoxicated, fell from a height 
and broke his neck. 

13 Eumedes.'] — Ver. 27. Dolon, the son of Eumedes, having stipulated 
that he should receive the horses of Achilles as his reward, went as a spy 
into the Grecian camp, where he was slain by Diomedes and Ulysses. 

14 And Merops.~\ — Ver. 30. He was the husband of Ciymene, who, by 
Apollo, became the mother of Phaeton. The meaning is, that if Phaeton 
had been contented to be owned by Merops as his son, he would not bave 
been tempted to guide the chariot of Apollo, and so might have avoided his 
unhappy fate. 



E. IV.] OE, LAMENT OF OYID. 303 

as they fell over my face ; at the time that I drank in thy 
words breathing constancy. And now thou defendest thy 
distant friend with energy, and dost alleviate evils that can 
hardly be alleviated in any degree. Live on, without envy ; 
pass in obscurity thy tranquil years, and attach thy equals 
to thyself in friendship. Love, too, the name of thy own 
]\aso, the only 'part of him which is not yet exiled. The 
Scythian Pontus confines the rest of him. The land nearest 
to the Constellation of the Erymanthian She-bear, pinched 
with hard frosts, confines me. Bosphorus and Tanais, and the 
swamps of Scythia, and a few other names of a region almost 
unknown, are beyond. Further than these, there is nothing 
but uninhabitable cold. Alas ! how near to me is the end of 
the earth ! But my country is afar ; afar my dearest wife ; 
and whatever, besides these two, was delightful to me. Yet so 
are they afar from me, that, in my mind, those can all be seen 
whom, bodily, it is not possible to touch. Before my eyes, 
flit my home, the City, and the aspect of the various spots ; 
and then follows, in order, everything as it happens in its 
appropriate place. The form of my wife, as though she 
were present, is before my eyes. She both increases my 
misfortunes and she alleviates them. She increases them, be- 
cause she is absent ; she alleviates them, by shewing her 
affection ; and she bears with firmness the burden that is 
imposed on her. 

You, too, my friends, remain attached to my heart; you, whom 
I long to mention, each by name. But cautious fear restrains 
this act of duty, and I believe that you would prefer not to be 
inserted in my lines. Once you were anxious for it ; and it 
was as good as a pleasing mark of distinction, for your names 
to be read in my compositions. But, as now it is a matter of 
doubt, I will address each one in my own thoughts, and to none 
of you will I be a cause of apprehension. My verses, shall 
betray my concealed friends by no hint ; if any one has been 
attached to me in secret, let him still be attached. But know 
that although I am removed to a distant land, you are always 
present to my thoughts. So far as each of you can, do alle- 
viate my misfortunes in some degree ; and refuse not a faithful 
hand to me, thus prostrate. May Fortune be ever propitious 
to you ; and may you never, experiencing a similar lot, have 
to implore the aid of others. 



304 THE TBTSTIA ; I> HI. 

ELEGY V. 

Ovid praises the constancy of his friend, which he had experienced in 
adversity, and declares that the rememhrance of it will never he effaced 
from his memory. He confesses that he entertains some slight hopes, 
that Augustus will one day be pacified, and make his exile more 
endurable. 
The extent of my acquaintanceship with thee was not great, so 
that thou mightst have concealed it without any difficulty, hadst 
thou not united me to thyself in closer ties whde niy bark, 
perchance, sped on with favouring gales. When I Ml, and 
all fled through fear of mv wreck, and turned their backs upon 
my acquaintanceship, thou didst dare to touch a body struck 
bv the bolts of Jove, and to enter the threshold of a woe- 
stricken house. And that, thou, a recent acquaintance, and 
known by no prolonged intimacy, didst do which scarce y two 
or three of my o\A friends did for wretched me. I beheld thy 
alarmed countenance, and I marked what I saw. I beheld 
thy face bedewed with tears, and more pale than my own ; and, 
seeing thy tears as they fell at each word, I drank in those 
tears with my face, those words with my ears I felt, too, thy 
arms, as they hung around my sorrowing neck, and thy kisses, 
mingled with the sound of thy sobs. By thy eflorts too, Cams 
in my absence, am I defended. Thou knowest that Cams is put 
in the stead of thy real name. I receive, besides, many tokens 
of thy evident kindness, thatwill never be effaced from my heart. 
May the Gods grant thee power ever to defend thy friends, 
aJmayst thou assist them on a more fortunate occasion 

But if in the mean time, thou makest inquiry what 1, a 
ruined man, am doing in these parts, (and I may suppose 
that thou dost make the inquiry), I am influenced by a slight 
hope (and do not thou deprive me of it) that the offended 
Esty of the God can be appeased. Whether I am rash in 
my expectations, or whether it is possible to attain that object, 
do thou prove to me, I pray, that what I desire is possible. 
And whatever eloquence of language thou possessest, employ 
it for the purpose of showing that my wishes may possibly 
attain success For the greater any one is, the more placable 
STiTlns anger, and a^noble disposition easily receives an 
mpresTion. IUs sufficient for the noble-hearted hon to have 
bZight the body to the ground ; the contest is ended when the 



E. v.] OB, LAMENT OF OYID. 305 

enemy lies prostrate. But the wolf and the disgusting bears 
attack even the dying, and so does each wild beast that is in- 
ferior in nobleness of blood. What have we greater at Troy 
than the brave Achilles ? He was not proof against the tears 
of the Dardanian old man. 15 Porus, 16 and the ceremonial of 
the celebrated funeral, show how great was the clemency of the 
Emathian general. And not to mention cases where the wrath 
of mortals has been turned into milder feelings ; he who once 
was her enemy, is now the son-in-law of Juno. Besides, it is 
impossible that I can despair of some favour, as the cause of 
my punishment is not one deserving of death. The life of 
Caesar, which is a life belonging to the whole world, has not 
been attempted by me, endeavouring to spread universal ruin. 
I have said nothing, nor has my tongue uttered threats ; and 
no profane words have been let slip, in excess of wine. I am 
punished, because my unguarded eyes were witnesses of a sin ; 
and my crime is, that I had eyes. For my part, I cannot 
entirely defend my fault ; but mistake embraces a part of my 
accusation. A hope therefore remains, that that will cause 
him to moderate my punishment, on the terms of a change 
of the place of my exile. I pray that the brilliant Light- 
bearing star, the forerunner of the beauteous Sun, may bring 
on that day, pressing onward his steed. 



ELEGY VI. 

The Poet praises the constancy of his friend, and says, that even if he 
wished, he is not able to conceal it ; and that if he had applied to him 
for advice, he might still have been in safety. He entreats him to pa- 
cify Augustus, that he may obtain a change of his place of exile, and he 
asserts that he has been guilty of no criminality. 

Thotj neither desirest, my dearest friend, nor canst thou, 
shouldst thou perchance desire it, conceal the ties of our 
friendship. For so long as it was permitted me, no one was 

15 Dardanian old man.'] — Ver. 38. This was Priam, on the occasion of 
his begging the body of Hector from Achilles. 

16 Porus.'] — Ver. 39. Porus was a prince of India, who was conquered 
by Alexander the Great. The latter, in admiration of his courage, be- 
stowed on him a larger kingdom than that of which he had previously 
deprived him. The same conqueror honoured the body of Darius, his 
adversary, with a gorgeous funeral. Emathia was the ancient name of 
Macedonia, of which country Alexander was the king. 

X 



306 THE TKISTIA ; [b. hi. 

dearer to me than thee, nor was any one in all the City more 
intimate with thee than myself ; and that was so well proved to 
the public, that our friendship was almost better known, than 
thou and I were, ourselves. The kindness that exists in thy 
mind towards thy friends, is known to the man whom thou 
makest thy friend. Thou wast wont to conceal nothing, so that 
I was not conscious of it ; and thou didst impart many things 
to be concealed in my breast. Thou, too, wast the only one 
to whom I used to tell whatever secrets I had, except that one 
which has proved my ruin. Hadst thou known that, as well, 
thou wouldst have been blessed with thy friend in safety, and 
I should have been saved, my friend, by thy advice. But, 
doubtless, my destinies dragged me onwards to destruction, 
and closed every avenue to my own benefit. 

However, whether by caution I could have avoided this 
misfortune, or whether no reasoning is able to control destiny, 
still do thou, most closely united to me by lengthened intimacy, 
and thyself almost the greatest object of my regrets, keep me 
in remembrance ; and, if favour has given thee any influence, 
make use of it, I pray, in my behalf; so that the anger of the 
offended Deity may be less violent, and my punishment may be 
lessened by a change of locality* And this i" ask thee, since 
there is no criminality in my heart, and mistake holds the chief 
place in my offence. It is no light matter, nor is it safe to say, 
by what accident my eyes became acquainted with so shocking 
a disaster. My mind, too, shudders at that time, as though at 
its own wounds, and by the recollection, my grief itself is 
renewed. Whatever can be productive of such disgrace, is 
proper to be concealed in the obscurity of the night. I will, 
then, mention nothing, except that I offended ; but that from 
that fault no advantage was sought to be gained by me ; and 
that my offence ought rather to be styled foolishness, if you 
would give a thing its proper name. And if this is not the 
truth, seek some other place, where I may be still more dis- 
tant, and let this region be but a city suburb in comparison 
to it. 



E. VII.] OE, LAMENT Or OYID. 307 



ELEGY VII. 

The Poet, writing to a young lady named Perilla, says that, badly as he 
has been treated by them, he is still devoting himself to the Muses ; 
and he exhorts her by similar pursuits to aspire to immortality. He 
tells her that her native grace and beauty will depart in old age, but 
that the endowments of the intellect are immortal. 

My letter, now you are finished, go forthwith, the faithful 
messenger of my words, to salute Perilla. 17 You will either find 
her sitting with her charming mother, or among her books 
and her Muses. Whatever she shall be doing, she will leave 
it, when she knows that you have come ; there will be no 
delay ; she will ask why you have come, and what I am doing ? 
You will say that I am living ; but in such a way that I would , 
prefer not to be living ; and you will say, that my woes 
have not been alleviated in such a length of time ; that I 
have returned to the Muses, though they have proved my 
rain, and that I am fitting my words to alternate measures. 
Do you say, too, " Why dost thou apply thyself to ordinary pur- 
suits, and why dost thou compose learned poems in Greek, and 
after a manner not that of thy country? For nature, with the 
Destinies, has granted thee chaste manners, and rare endow- 
ments and genius. " I was the first that led thy genius to the 
Pegasian streams, lest the spring of gushing water should un- 
fortunately be wasted. I was the first to perceive it in thy tender 
years, when yet a girl ; and, as is seen, I was the guide and the 
companion of this tendency. Therefore, if the same fires still 
dwell in thy breast, the Lesbian Sappho will be the only poetess 
to excel thy works. But I fear that my fortune may now 
retard thee, and that thy spirit may flag after my downfall. 
While there was the opportunity, often didst thou read thy own 
works to me ; often did I read mine to thee. I either gave my at- 
tention to the verses thou hadst just composed, or when thou 

17 Perilla.] — Ver. 1. Some commentators have supposed that Pe- 
rilla was the daughter of Ovid. There does not appear any indication of 
such a fact in this Elegy ; and he seems rather to speak of her in terms of 
admiration than of the affection of a parent for his daughter. He would 
hardly be content with a mere allusion to his wife, as being her ' dulcis 
mater,' and then saying no more about her. The name of his daughter is 
nowhere to be found. 

x2 



308 THE TRISTIA ; [b. ill. 

hadst neglected to do so, I was the cause of ablush. 18 Perhaps, 
after my example, because my books injured me, thou, too, hast 
traced retribution in my punishment. Lay aside thy fears, 
Perilla ; only let no woman be led astray, or learn from thy 
writings how to love. 

Lay aside, then, most learned girl, all grounds for sloth- 
fulness, and return to the liberal arts and to thy pursuits. 
That beautiful form will be spoiled by length of years, and 
the wrinkle of age will be on thy antiquated brow. Wither- 
ing old age, too, which comes with noiseless step, will lay 
his hand on thy good looks. And when any one shall say, 
" She once was a beauty," thou wilt grieve and wilt complain 
that thy mirror is deceitful. Thy means are but moderate, 
although thou art most deserving of great wealth ; but fancy 
that thy means are equal in amount to immense riches. For, 
in good truth, Fortune both gives to whom she pleases, and 
takes away again; and he is Irus 19 on a sudden, who was 
Croesus the moment before. Why should I enter into details ? 
We have nothing that is not perishable except the blessings of 
the heart and of the intellect. Behold how I am deprived of 
my country, yourselves, and my home, and how everything has 
been torn from me that could be taken away ; and yet I 
have my genius as my companion and source of enjoy- 
ment ; over this, Csesar could hold no sway. Let who pleases 
put an end to my life with the cruel sword, yet when I am 
dead, my fame will survive me, and, so long as victorious Rome, 
sprung from Mars, shall look down from the hills on the whole 
earth subdued, my writings will be read. And do thou too, 
whom may a happier result of thy studies await, so far as thou 
canst, avoid extinction in time to come. 



ELEGY VIII. 

He says that his longing to revisit his country and his friends is so great, 
that he wishes he could find some instantaneous means of transporting 
himself thither. He speaks of the wretchedness of his exile, and prays 
that Csesar may one day modify his anger, and assign him a more en- 
durable place of banishment. 

At this instant could I wish to ascend the chariot of Tripto- 
lemus, who planted the unknown seed in the ground then 

18 Cause of a blush.] — Ver. 26. Probably, by reason of his blaming her 
for her idleness, and her neglect of the Muses. 

19 Irus.]— Ver. 42. He was a beggar of Ithaca, and a dependant of the 
suitors of Penelope. Ulysses slew him with a blow of his fist. His name 



E. viti.] OE, LAMEKT OF OVID. 309 

unused to it. At this moment could I wish to harness the 
dragon-steeds of Medea, which she had, Corinth, at her flight 
from thy citadel. At this moment could I wish to assume the 
waving wings, either thine, Perseus, or thine, Daedalus ; that, 
the thin air yielding to my flight, I might on a sudden behold 
the delightful soil of my native land, and the face of my de- 
serted home, and my companions that still remember me, and, 
chief of all, the dear features of my wife. 

Fool ! why, with thy childish desires, dost thou Tainly hanker 
after that which no day brings thee, or will bring thee ? If this 
must ever be thy ardent desire, pray to the divine power of 
Augustus, and address in prayer that God, whose wrath thou 
hast experienced : he is able to give thee both the wings 
and the swift chariot. Should he grant thy return, at once 
thou wilt be fitted with wings. 

Should I pray for these things, (and more I cannot pray 
for,) I fear that my prayers would be too exorbitant. Perhaps, 
at a future day, when his anger shall have expended itself, 
this favour will have to be asked by me with anxious mind ; 
meantime, what is less than that, but equal to an ample boon 
to me, would that he would order me to depart from this region 
to any other place : neither the climate, nor the water, nor the 
soil, nor the air agrees with me, and a perpetual weakness per- 
vades my body. Whether it is that the contagion of a dis- 
eased mind affects my limbs, or whether the cause of my illness 
lies in the situation of the place : soon as I arrived in Pontus, 
sleeplessness distressed me ; my leanness scarcely kept my 
bones covered, and food became repulsive to my palate. That 
hue which exists in leaves smitten with the first cold in autumn, 
and which the fresh-come winter has nipped, the same do my 
limbs present. I obtain relief by no medicines, and some 
occasion for complaining misery is never wanting. 

I am not more healthy in my mind than in my body ; both 
of them are equally affected with infirmity, and twofold ills do 
I endure. The hideous aspect of my fate haunts me, and 
stands before my eyes to be scanned, just as if it were a body 
that could be seen. When I look on the spot, the manners of 

afterwards became a proverbial expression for a beggar. Croesus was the 
rich king of Lydia, who was conquered by Cyrus the Great. His wealth 
was so enormous that his name passed into a proverb, meaning the very 
converse of that of Irus. 



310 THE TftlSTIA; [b. in. 

the people, their dress, and their language, and it occurs to me 
what I am, and what I have been, so great is my desire for 
death that I complain of the wrath of Csesar, because he did 
not avenge his grievances with the sword ; but since he has 
once satisfied his hatred by legal means, 20 may my exile, I pray, 
become more tolerable by a change of situation. 



ELEGY IX. 

He shows that the Grecians founded cities on the Getic shores, and in- 
forms us that they gave its name to the city of Tomi. 

Here too, then, do Grecian cities exist : who could have 
believed it! here, among the names of savage barbarism. 
Hither, too, have come the colonists sent from Miletus, and 
among the Getse have they founded Grecian homes. But the 
ancient name of this spot, and one, older than the city built 
here, was clearly derived from the murder of Absyrtus. 21 

For the impious Medea, flying from her deserted father in a 
ship which, made by the care of the warlike Minerva, was the 
first to speed through waves which before were untried, is said to 
have plied her oars in these fords. Soon as the sentinel beheld 
her father from the lofty hill, — " A stranger comes from Col- 
chis/ 5 he cries ; " I recognize the sails/' While the Minyans are 
hastening, while the rope is being loosened from the quay, 
while the anchor, drawn up, follows their swift hands, the 
Colchian dame, conscious of her crimes, beats her bosom ; she 
who had dared, and who was to dare, many impious deeds 
with her own hand. Although abundance of audacity re- 
mains in her spirit, paleness is impressed on the astonished 
features of the virgin. When, therefore, she beholds afar the 
approaching sails, she says, " We are overtaken ; and my 
father must be delayed by some stratagem." While she is 
considering what to do, while she turns her eyes on every 
side, by chance she fixes them, as they turn towards her 

20 By legal means.'] — Ver. 41. That is, by punishing him according to 
the laws, and not by taking vengeance with the sword, after the fashion of 
tyrants. 

21 Absyrtus. ,] — Ver. 6. He was the son of iEetes, and the brother of 
Medea. His death by the hand of his sister is here related by the poet. 
He says that Tomi was so called, because there he was cut into pieces by 
Medea ; thus deriving the name of the place from the Greek W juvw, Ho cut/ 



E. ix.] OK, LAMENT OP OTID. 311 

brother. When his presence occurs to her, " we are the 
conquerors," says she ; "he, by his death, shall be productive 
of my safety." On the instant, with the cruel sword, she 
pierces his innocent side, he not suspecting it, and fearing 
no such fate ; and she tears him in pieces, and scatters his 
limbs, torn asunder, about the fields, so as to be found in 
many places ; and that her father may not be ignorant of it, 
she exposes on a lofty rock both the pallid hands and the head 
dripping with blood, in order that her parent may be arrested 
in his course by a new sorrow, and that he may be delayed on 
his sad road, while he is gathering up the lifeless limbs. 

Thence was this place called Tomi ; because in it the sister 
is said to have cut to pieces the limbs of her brother. 



ELEGY X. 

The Poet describes the miseries of his exile, and, among other things, he 
says, that the frost is so intense, that the river and the sea, and even 
the fish, are frozen ; and that when that is the case, the Scythian foe, 
which excels in cavalry and archers, is able to pass the river Danube, 
and lay waste the country, and lead the inhabitants into captivity. 

If any one, yonder, remembers the banished Naso, and if, with- 
out me, my name still survives in the City, let him know that I 
am living in the midst of barbarism, exposed under stars that 
never set in the ocean. The Sauromatse, a savage race, the 
Bessi and the Getse surround me, names how unworthy of 
my genius to mention ! yet, while the air is mild, we are de- 
fended by the intervening Danube ; while it flows, it repels in- 
vasion by its waves. But when dire winter has put forth his 
rugged face, and the earth has become white with ice, hard as 
marble ; when Boreas is at liberty, and snow has been sent upon 
the regions under the Bear ; then it is true that these nations 
are distressed by a shivering climate. The snow lies deep; 
and as it lies, neither sun nor rains melt it ; Boreas hardens it, 
and makes it endure for ever : hence, when the former ice 
has not yet melted, fresh succeeds, and in many a place it is 
wont to last for two years. 

So great is the strength of the North wind, when aroused, 
that it levels high towers with the ground, and carries off roofs 
borne away : the inhabitants poorly defend themselves from the 
cold by skins and sewn trowsers ; and of the whole body, the 



312 THE TEISTIA; [b. in. 

face is the only part exposed. Often, the hair, as it is moved, 
rattles with the pendant icicle, and the white beard shines with 
the ice that has formed upon it. Liquid wine becomes solid, pre- 
serving the form of the vessel : they do not quaff draughts of 
liquor, but pieces which are presented. 

Why shall I mention how the frozen rivers become hard, 
and how brittle water is dug out of the streams. 4 The Danube 
itself, which, no narrower than the river that bears the 
papyrus, mingles, through many mouths with the vast 
ocean, freezes as the winds harden its azure streams, and it 
rolls to the sea with covered waters ; where ships had gone, 
they now walk on foot ; and the hoof of the horse strikes the 
waters hardened by freezing. Sarmatian oxen drag the un- 
couth waggons along unwonted bridges, as the waters roll 
beneath; indeed, I shall scarcely be believed ; but inasmuch as 
there is no profit in untruths, an eye-witness ought to receive 
full confidence. I have seen the vast sea frozen with ice, and 
a slippery crust covered over the unmoved waters. To have 
seen it is not enough : I have trod upon the hardened ocean, 
and the surface of the water was under my foot, not wetted by it. 
If, Leander, in days of old thou hadst had suctra sea, thy death 
would not have been a charge laid against the narrow stream. 22 
At that time, too, the curved dolphins cannot raise themselves 
to the air ; the severity of the winter hinders them striving to 
do so ; and, although Boreas resounds with agitated wings, 
there is not a wave on the sea then blocked up. The ships 
stand, hemmed in by the frost, as though by marble, and no 
oar can cleave the stiffened water. 

I have seen fish remain bound fast in ice, and even then 
some part of them retained life ; whether, therefore, the severe 
power of the mighty Boreas congeals the waters of the sea, or 
those flowing in the river, immediately, the Danube being made 
level by the drying Northern blasts, the barbarous enemy is 
carried over on his swift steed : an enemy, strong in horses, 
and in the arrow that flies from afar, depopulates the neighbour- 
ing region far and wide. Some take to flight, and no one 
being left to protect the fields, the unguarded property becomes 
a prey; such as cattle, and the creaking waggons, the little trea- 

22 The narrow stream.] — Ver. 41. He alludes to the Hellespont, 
which was not more than a mile in width, from Sestos to Abydos, between 
which towns Leander was in the habit of swimming to visit his mistress, 
Hero. 



E. x.] OR, LAMENT OF OVTD. 313 

sures of the country, and the riches besides that the poor in- 
habitant possesses ; some are driven along as captives, with 
their arms fastened behind their backs, looking back in vain 
upon their fields and their homes ; some die in torments, 
pierced by barbed arrows, for on the winged steel there is a 
poison, in which it has been dipped. What they cannot carry 
with themselves, or lead away, they destroy, and the flames of 
the enemy consume the unoffending cottages ,- even when there 
is peace, they cause alarm from the apprehension of war, and 
no one ploughs the ground with the pressed ploughshare. 

This spot either beholds the enemy, or is always in dread of 
a foe which it does not behold ; the earth deserted, becomes 
worthless, left untilled in ruinous neglect. Here the luscious 
grape does not lie concealed under the shade of the foliage, 
and the fermenting new wine does not fill the deep vats ; 
the country does not bear fruit, and Acontius would have 
nothing here on which to write a line to his mistress. You 
may behold naked plains without trees — without leaves ; 
places, alas ! not to be visited by a fortunate man ! Since, 
then, the extensive globe is so wide, has this land been dis- 
covered for the purpose of my punishment ? 



ELEGY XL 

The Poet, without mentioning the name, charges some cruel person, that 
he insults his misfortunes while thus confined in Scythia, and deprived of 
home and every comfort ; and he tells him that it is the greatest disgrace 
to press hard on a man who is already prostrate. He reminds him of 
the story of Phalaris, and the punishment of him who contrived the de- 
struction of others ; and then recommends him to keep in mind the 
fluctuating fate of man, and no longer to bear his faults in remembrance, 
but rather to let his wounds heal with time ; and he ends by telling 
him that his wretchedness cannot possibly be exceeded. 

If thou art one, unfeeling man, to insult my misfortunes, and 
endlessly, in thy cruelty, to persecute me with accusations, surely 
thou wast born of a rock, and nourished with the milk of 
savage beasts ; I should say, too, that flint fills thy breast. 
What further lengths remain, to which thy anger can pro- 
ceed ? or what dost thou see to be wanting to my misery ? 
A barbarous region, the inhospitable shores of Pontus, and 
the Msenalian she-bear, with her attendant Boreas, behold 



314 THE TRISTIA, [b. in. 

me. I have no intercourse in language with this savage 
nation ; all places for me are filled with anxious apprehen- 
sions. As the fleeing stag, when caught by the greedy- 
bears, or as the lamb, when surrounded by the mountain 
wolves, trembles, so am I filled with dread ; hemmed in on 
every side by warlike tribes, while the enemy almost pierces 
my side. Suppose it were a trifling punishment to be deprived 
of my dear wife, my country, and my pledges of affection ; 
suppose I suffered no misfortune, but barely the wrath of 
Csesar — is the bare wrath of Caesar too light a misfortune to 
me ? And yet there is one who can handle again my bleeding 
wounds ; and who can open his eloquent lips against my 
morals ? On an easy subject every one can be eloquent ; and 
but little strength is required to break what is already bruised. 
It is true courage to overthrow towns and standing walls : 'tis 
only cowards that destroy what is already prostrate. I am not 
what once I was. Why dost thou trample on an empty shadow ? 
Why with stones dost thou press upon my ashes and my 
tomb ? 'Twas Hector himself at the time when he fought in 
battle ; but he who was fastened to the Hsemonian horses 
was not Hector : remember, too, that I am not the person 
whom thou didst formerly know — the phantom only of that 
person is left. Why, insulter, dost thou persecute a phantom 
with reproachf ul words ? Cease, I pray, to harass the mere 
ghost of myself. 

Suppose all my crimes to exist ; let there be nothing in 
them which thou mayst suppose to be rather the result of error 
than of criminality. Lo ! as an exile, I pay the penalty — a 
penalty both dreadful in the banishment itself and in the 
place of banishment ; glut thy anger, then ! 

My lot might appear worthy of tears, even to an executioner ; 
yet, in thy sole judgment, His not sufficiently dreadful : thou 
art more cruel than the savage Busiris, 23 — more cruel than he 
who heated the fictitious bull by the slow fire, than he, too, 
who is said to have given the bull to the Sicilian tyrant, 24 and 

23 Busiris.] — Ver. 39. He was a cruel king of Egypt, who sacrificed 
strangers to Jupiter, and, at length, was slain by Hercules. 

24 The Sicilian tyrant.] — Ver. 41. Phalaris, the king of Agrigentum, 
who, being of a cruel disposition, received as a present from Perillus, a 
brazen bull, with the suggestion mentioned by the Poet ; and who tried, 
with retributive justice, the first experiment with it on the inventor, as 
related in the text. 



e. xi.] OK, LAMENT OF OVID. 315 

by his words to have recommended his invention. " king !" 
says he, " there is utility in this gift, and that greater than 
would appear : not only is the appearance of my work worthy 
of approval. Dost thou see, on the right hand, this side of the 
bull that can be opened ? Here the person must be inclosed, 
whom thou wouldst put to death. Forthwith, when he is 
inclosed, burn him with a slow fire : he will roar out, and it will 
be exactly the voice of a real bull. To recompense one present 
with another, give me, I pray, in return for this invention, a 
reward worthy of my ingenuity!" He had spoken; but 
Phalaris said, " Wonderful inventor of punishment ! be thou 
at once the first to make trial of thy work !" There was no de- 
lay ; dreadfully roasted on the fires, his oivn invention, he gave 
a specimen of the cries of suffering with shrieking voice. 

What have I to do with the Sicilians, among the Scythians and 
the Getse ? Whoever thou art, my complaint reverts to thee. 
That thou mayst be able, too, to satiate thy thirst with my blood, 
and that thou mayst experience as much pleasure with greedy 
heart as thou mayst wish ; so many evils have I suffered by 
land and by sea, in my journey, that I could think that even 
thou, on hearing them, wouldst grieve. Believe me, were 
Ulysses compared with me, the wrath of Neptune is less than 
that of Augustus. Therefore, whoever thou art, refrain from 
opening my wounds afresh, and take off thy hands from my 
painful sores ; and, that oblivion may take possession of the 
story of my fault, permit my destiny to heal my scars. Keep- 
ing, too, the lot of man in thy recollection, which raises and 
crushes the same persons, do thou stand in awe of the chances 
of uncertainty ; and since, what I never supposed could 
happen, thou hast so much anxiety about my affairs, thou 
hast no reason to be alarmed. My fate is a most wretched one. 
The wrath of Ceesar brings with it every woe. That this might 
be the better proved, and I might not be thought to deceive 
thee in this, I could wish that thou thyself wouldst make trial 
of my punishment. 



316 THE TEISTIA; [b. hi. 



ELEGY XII. 

He says that the winter is past, and that spring has arrived. He then 
compares its delights in Pontus with those of other countries. He 
says that the seas have become navigable, and that, should any sailor 
arrive from civilized lands, he will go to meet him, and learn the recent 
triumphs of Caesar. Should any one be enabled to give him the desired 
information, he says that he will entertain him as his guest ; and he 
concludes by praying that his abode in the Scythian regions may not be 
lasting, but that his stay there may be only temporary, and that, at a 
future day, he may return to his country. 

Now the Zephyrs moderate the cold ; and, the year now fin- 
ished, this Mseotian winter has seemed to me more protracted 
than any former ones ; and now, the Ram, which did not safely 
carry Helle when placed on him, makes the length of the days 
equal with that of the nights. Now the boys and the sportive 
lasses are gathering the violet, which the ground in the country 
bears, no one planting them. The meadows, too, become clad 
with flowers of various tints, and the prattling birds revel 
with their untaught throats ; the swallow, that she may avoid 
the crime of her cruel ancestress, makes her nest and her 
little home under the rafters ; the blade, which has lain hid, 
covered in the ridges devoted to Ceres, puts forth its tender 
top from the warmed earth ; and in whatever region the vine 
exists, the bud is pushed forth from the shoot : but from the 
Getic shores the vine is far distant. In whatever region any 
tree exists, the branch begins to swell on the tree ; but trees 
are far removed from the Getic land. At Rome there, it is now 
a time of enjoyment, and the garrulous warfare of the wordy 
Forum gives place 25 to the games, as they succeed in order. 
Now the horse is employed, now they sport with light arms ; 
now the ball is tossed, and now the hoop is rolled with its 
whirling circle ; now, when the youths have been besprinkled 
with the flowing oil, they bathe their wearied limbs in the 
Virgin's aqueduct. The stage is frequented, and the applause 
waxes loud with divided opinions ; and the three theatres now 
resound, in place of the three Forums. 

Oh four times, aye, immeasurably blest is he who is allowed 
to enjoy the delights of the City, not forbidden to him ! but by 

25 Forum gives place."] — Ver. 18. The days on which the public games 
were celebrated were ' nefasti,' and, on them, the courts of law were closed. 



E . XII.] OK, LAMENT OF OYID. 317 

me is beheld snow melted by the vernal sun, and water which 
can hardly be dug out of the hardened stream. The sea is not 
now congealed with ice, and no longer, as before, does the Sau- 
romatian herdsman drive the creaking waggon over the Danube ; 
a few ships, too, will be beginning to sail this way, and the 
stranger bark will be on the Pontic shore. I will be careful to 
meet the sailor, and having saluted him, I will enquire why he 
comes? who he is? and from what country ? Wonderful, indeed, 
will it be, if he has not merely ploughed in safety the neigh- 
bouring waters from some adjacent place. Few are the sailors 
that cross so large a tract of sea from Italy ; few are they that 
come to these shores, destitute of harbours ; yet, whether he 
knows how to speak in the Greek, or whether in the Latin 
language, assuredly on the latter account will he be more 
pleasing. It is possible, also, that one may have directed his 
course hither, with a steady South wind from the mouth of the 
straits of the Hellespont, and from the waves of the prolonged 
Propontis : whoever he is, he can tell the news with in faithful 
narrative, and it may be a portion of, and a substitute for, 
the topics of the day. I pray that he may be able to tell me 
the triumphs of Caesar that he has heard of, and of the vows 
that have been fulfilled for Latian Jove ; and that thou at 
length, rebellious Germany ! hast laid thy weeping head be- 
neath the feet of the great General. He who brings me this 
news, of things which I shall grieve not to have seen — the 
same shall forthwith be a guest at my home. 

Ah, me ! and is the home of Naso in the Scythian land ? and 
does punishment give me a place of its own for my home ? 
May the Gods grant that Csesar make this but a temporary 
shelter in my disgrace, and not my lasting abode and my 
home ! 



ELEGY XIII. 

His birthday having arrived, he pronounces it to be needless, as it comes 
in a place where it is not possible for him to perform the customary so- 
lemnities ; he tells it to return no more, so long as he shall remain in 
the Scythian r egions. 

Behold, my birth-day comes round at its usual time; needless, 
indeed, for of what use to me was it to be born ? Why, in thy 
cruelty, didst thou come, an addition to the wretched years of 
the exile ? Thou oughtst rather to have put an end to them. 



318 THE TRISTTA; [b. in. 

If thou hadst had any care of me, or had there been any shame 
in thee, thou wouldst not have accompanied me beyond my 
country. In the place where first I was unfortunately known 
to thee as an infant, in that same thou wouldst have tried to 
be my last. Thou, too, in thy sorrow, wouldst have said fare- 
well (as said my friends) in the City, when now about to be 
left by me. 

What hast thou in common with Pontus ? Has the wrath of 
Ceesar sent thee as well, to the extreme region of the freezing 
climates? Dost thou expect, forsooth, the honour of thy 
wonted tribute, and that the white robe 26 should hang from my 
shoulders ? that the smoking altar should be girt with flowery 
chaplets? that the morsel of frankincense should crackle 
in the flames? that I should offer the sacrificial cakes to 
mark the day of my birth ? and that I should give utterance 
to auspicious prayers, my lips uttering words of good omen ? 
I am not so situated ; and my circumstances are not such that 
I can be joyful at thy arrival. A funereal altar, wreathed with 
the mournful cypress, and flames prepared on the erected 
pile, befit me. I choose not to offer the frankincense 
that fails to conciliate the Gods ; and words of good omen 
occur not to me, amid evils so great. If, however, any thing 
can be gained by me on this day, I pray thee never to return 
in these regions, so long as Pontus, almost the remotest spot 
in the earth, and wrongly called by the name of Euxinus, 27 
retains me. 



ELEGY XIV. 

He praises the constancy and fidelity of a friend who is collecting his 
works, and entreats him, to the best of his ability, to keep alive his 
name in the City. He tells him that his Metamorphoses have been 
published in an uncorrected state ; and he concludes by alleging, that 
allowance ought to be made for whatever he composed in Scythia during 
the time of his exile. 

Thou worshipper, and holy guardian of learned men, my 

26 The white robe.']— Ver. 14. On the celebration of birth days the 
white robe was assumed as being an emblem of purity and happiness, and 
of good omen in its hue. 

27 Euxinus.'] — Ver. 28. This name is derived from the Greek EvZslvoq, 
1 hospitable,' or i friendly to strangers/ The Poet implies, that, from its 
stormy character, and- the barrenness of the neighbouring regions, it ought 
to have been called aZtvog, or ' Axenus/ ' inhospitable/ which, indeed, 
was its ancient name. 



£. xiv.] OK, LAMENT OF OYID. 319 

friend, who art ever the favourer of my talents ; and dost thou 
not, as once thou wast wont to honour me in my pro- 
sperity, now too, have a care that I seem not wholly lost? Art 
thou compiling my poems, those Arts alone being excepted 28 
which have brought ruin on their composer ? Do so, I pray, 
thou admirer of the modern poets, and to the best of thy power 
retain my body in the City. Exile has been awarded to me ; 
exile has not been awarded to my books, which have done 
nothing to deserve the punishment of their master. Often is 
the banished father an exile in most distant lands ; yet it is 
allowed the children of the exile to remain in the City. After 
the example of Pallas, verses have been born of me without a 
mother. These are my own offspring, and my own progeny. 
These I commend to thy care : the more they are deprived of 
their parent, the greater will be the burden to thee, their pro- 
tector. Three have been born to me that have followed my 
unhappy example ; remember to make the rest of them thy 
care in the eyes of men. There are also thrice ^s^ volumes 
on the changes of figure, poems that were snatched from the 
funeral pile of their master. That work might have gained a 
surer reputation from my correcting hand, had not my ruin 
happened first. Now, uncorrected, it has come into the pre- 
sence of the public — if, indeed, anything of mine is still be- 
fore the public. 

Add to my works, this composition, such as it is, which 
comes sent to thee from a distant region; and when any 
one reads it (should any one do so), let him first consider 
under what circumstances, and in what place it was written. 
He will be considerate to writings whose time of composition 
he will know was a time of exile, and which were written in a 
barbarous clime. And, amid so many misfortunes, he will be 
surprised that I was capable of framing any poem with my 
trembling hand. Misery has ruined my powers, the fountain 
of which even before was not prolific, and the vein but unpro- 
ductive. But, such as it was, it has disappeared, for want of 
exercise, and, dried up, it has perished by lengthened stag- 
nation. Here is no abundance of books, by which I might 
be both invited and instructed : instead of books, there is the 
sound of the bow and of armour. There is no one in this 
region, should I recite my verses, whose ear I could engage so 

28 Those Arts alone being excepted.} — Ver. 6. He means his three 
books on the Art of Love the ostensible cause of his misfortunes. 



320 THE TEISTIA ; [b. in. 

as to understand me. There is no spot for me to retire to : 
the guard of the city walls, and the closed gate, keep off the 
Getic foe. Many a time do I enquire about some word, name, or 
place, and there is no one to inform me. Often (I am ashamed 
to own it) words fail me, when endeavouring to say some- 
thing ; and I have forgotten how to speak. 

I am almost stunned with the Thracian and the Scythian 
jargon on every side ; and I seem as though I could write in 
Getic measures. Believe me, I am afraid lest Pontic words 
should be mixed with Latin ones, and thou shouldst read 
them in my writings. Deign, then, to grant pardon to my 
book, such as it is, and excuse it, on the ground of my 
wretched lot. 



OR, LAMENT OF OYID. 321 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 



ELEGY I. 



He says that his works must be excused, if they are found to be of infe- 
rior character ; since he writes them in exile, not for the sake of glory, 
but only that he may solace his griefs, and lull the recollection of them. 
He then enumerates the afflictions which he endures in the Scythian 
region. 

If there are any blemishes in my books, as there will be, 
excuse them, reader, on account of the time of their com- 
position. I am an exile; and repose, not fame, is my object : 
that my mind may not dwell too intently on my misfortunes. 
This, too, is the reason why the miner sings chained with the 
fetter, 1 when he lightens his heavy labour with his untaught 
numbers ; and why the man sings, who strives, as he bends 
forward on the oozy sand, while he drags the slow barge 
against the tide; and why he, too, who brings together his 
pliant oars to his breast, moves his arms to time, as he strikes 
the water. When the weary shepherd leans on his staif, 
or sits on the rock, he soothes his sheep with the song of his 
reed pipe. The labour of the handmaid is cheered and be- 
guiled as she sings, and while, as she sings, she draws out her 
allotted task in spinning. Even Achilles, in his sadness, is 
said to have lessened his sorrows with the Hsemonian lyre, 
when the Lyrnessian 2 damsel had been taken from him. Or- 

1 Chained with the fetter, .] — Ver. 5. The word 'fossor' literally means 
1 a digger ;' but, by the mention of the fetter, it would seem that the 
punishment of malefactors is here referred to ; very probably they were 
employed in the mines and public works of the state. It is certain that 
slaves were employed in the mines belonging to the Republic. 

2 The Lyrnessian damsel.'] — Ver. 15. Briseis is so called, from Lyr- 
nessus, a town near Troy. She was taken from Achilles by Agamemnon, 
when he bad lost Chryseis, whom the Gods ordered to be restored to her 

Y 



322 THE TEISTIA ; [b. IV. 

plieus was in sorrow, having twice lost his wife, w r hen he at- 
tracted the woods and the hard rocks with his song. 

Me also, did the Muse comfort, as I sought the appointed spot 
in Pontus ; she was the only companion of my exile. She alone 
fears neither the treachery of man, nor the sword of the enemy, 
nor the sea, nor the winds, nor a state of barbarism. She 
knows, too, when I was undone, what error it was that deceived 
me, and she knows that there was mistake, and not criminality, 
in what I did. In good truth, for the very reason that she be- 
fore proved my injury, she is now propitious to me. She has 
been condemned for a common crime, in conjunction with me. 
Would that, for my part, I had never employed my hand in the 
rites of the Pierian maids, since that sacrifice was to prove my 
ruin. 

But what shall I do now? The very potency of the Sisters 
retains me, and, in my madness, I, ruined by poesy, am 
still in love with poesy. Thus was the newly-found lotus, 
when tasted by the palate of him of Dulichium, grateful in 
flavour to him whom it injured. 3 The lover is generally sen- 
sible of his losses ; yet he persists in them, and he follows 
after the very cause of his error. 

Me too, my books delight, although they have injured me, 
and the very weapon that has caused my wounds, I love. 
Perhaps this attachment may appear to be a madness, but 
this madness has some advantages. It precludes my mind 
from always brooding over my woes, and makes me forgetful 
of my present misfortunes. And just as the Bacchanal, when 
wounded, feels not the wound while, in her delirium, she howls 
along the steeps of Edonis; 4 so, w r hen my breast waxes 
warm, aroused by the verdant Thyrsus, its spirits are superior 
to mortal woe. They are sensible neither of exile, nor of 
the shores of the Scythian ocean, nor do they feel that the 
Deities are incensed. Just as though I had quaffed the cup 
from the soporific Lethe, does my sense of adversity become 
blunted. With justice, then, do I venerate the Deities that 

father. Hasmonia was the ancient name of Thessaly, of which country 
A.chilles was a native. 

• It injured.] — Ver. 32. Homer tells us that the companions of 
Ulysses found the flavour of the lotus so delightful that they forgot their 
country, and it was with the greatest difficulty that Ulysses could persuade 
them to embark, and leave the shores of the Lotophagi. 

4 Edonis,'] — Ver. 42. This was a mountain in that part of Macedonia 
which bordered upon Thrace. 



EflJ OK, LAMENT OF OVID. 323 

alleviate my woes, companions from Helicon of my anxious 
flight ; and who have deigned to attend my steps, partly by 
sea and partly by land, both on board and on shore. May 
these, at least, I pray, be propitious to me ; for the rest of 
the Gods make common cause with Csesar, and they load 
me with as many troubles as the shore has sands, as the sea 
has fishes, and as the fishes have spawn. You will sooner 
be able to number the flowers in spring, the ears of corn in 
summer, the fruit in autumn, and the snow in winter, than 
the evils which 1 endured, while, driven over the face of 
the world, I sought, in my wretchedness, the shores on the 
left side of the Euxine sea. Nor yet, when I had arrived, was 
the allotted number of my woes more endurable ; hither, too, 
did my destinies track my steps. Here, too, do I recognize 
the threads of fate allotted me at my birth, threads made 
for me with blackened wool. And, not to speak of treachery, 
and my life being in danger, things true, indeed, but too ex- 
traordinary for implicit belief; how sad a thing is it fcfr 
one, who was always in favour with his fellow-citizens, to be 
living among the Bessi and the Getse ! How sad a thing 
is it for one's life to be protected by gate and walls, and to be 
hardly in safety through the resources of one's place of abode ! 
When young, I avoided the fierce conflicts of warfare, and I 
touched not arms but with sportive hand. Now, in my old 
age, I gird my side with the sword, my left arm with the shield, 
and I place my white locks under the helmet. For when the 
watchman from his tower gives the signal of some rising, forth- 
with I take up arms with nervous hand. A savage enemy, 
that has bows and arrows tipped with venom, surveys the for- 
tifications on his panting steed. And, just as the ravening 
wolf drags and carries along some sheep, which has not hidden 
itself in the fold, over corn-fields and through woods, so, if 
the barbarian foe finds any one in the fields that has not yet 
betaken himself within the protection of the gates, he carries 
him off. The person so taken, either follows them, and has 
chains thrown over his neck, or is killed with a weapon dipped 
in poison. 

Here am I placed, a newly-come denizen of an anxious abode. 
Alas ! too long is the duration of my existence ! And yet, 
even amid so many woes, the Muse, a sojourner, endures to 
return to her numbers and to her former devotions. But there 



324 THE TK1STIA ; [b. iv. 

is. no one to whom to recite my verses, and none to listen with 
their ears to Latin words. I myself (what else can I do ?) 
both write and read for myself ; and my writings are reviewed 
by my own judgment alone. Yet many a time have I said, 
on whose account do I labour at these pursuits ? Will the 
Sauromatae and the Getae read my writings ? Many a time, 
as I was writing, the tears have trickled down, and the writing 
has been moistened with my weeping. My mind, too, is as 
sensitive to its old wounds as though they were fresh ; and 
showers of sorrowful tears fall upon my bosom. When I call 
to mind what I am and what I was, my fortune thus changed, 
and reflect whither and from what quarter my destiny hurries 
me ; many a time, in my desperation, angered at my ruinous 
studies, has my hand thrown my lines upon the hearth, there 
to be consumed. And since, out of so many, only a few are 
remaining, do, whoever thou art, read them with indulgence ; 
and do, as Rome is forbidden to me, take it in good part that 
my poetry is not any better than my 'present circumstances. 



ELEGY II. 

The news has reached the poet that Tiberius has commenced his expedi- 
tion against Germany. He says that, perhaps, at the moment of his 
writing, victory has been obtained, and that though corporeally he can- 
not be present at the triumph, yet mentally he can behold the pageant. 
He concludes by saying, that, should any one bring him an account of 
the triumph, he will receive the news with extreme delight, and will lay 
aside his own private sorrows in his love for the public welfare. 

By this, fierce Germany, like the rest of the earth being over- 
come, thou mayst have bent the knee to the Caesars. Per- 
haps, too, the lofty Palatium is being decorated with wreaths, 
and the frankincense is crackling in the blaze, and by its smoke 
is obscuring the day ; the white victim, struck on its neck 
with the planted axe, is dyeing the ground with its crimson 
blood ; and each of the Caesars is preparing, as conqueror, to 
offer the promised gifts in the temples of the favouring Gods ; 
the young men, too, who are growing up under the name of 
Caesar, that that house may ever rule over the earth ; and 
Livia, with her good daughters-in-law, destined often to pre- 
sent them, is presenting gifts for her son returned in safety, 5 

5 Son returned in safety.'] — Ver. 12. Tiberius ; who is heie supposed in 
have returned victorious from his German expedition. The daughters-in-law 



E. ii.] OS, LAMENT OF OVXD. 32o 

and the matrons as well, and those who, free from imputation, 
preserve in perpetual virginity the chaste altars. The com- 
mon people, too, in its veneration, and with the people so 
revering, the Senate, is rejoicing ; and the Knights, of whom 
but lately I formed a small fraction. 

Driven far away, I share not in the public joy, and but 
little of the news travels thus far. The whole of the people, 
then, of the City, will be able to be spectators of the triumphs, 
and will read of 6 captured cities with the titles of their kings ; 
and will behold monarchs, bearing the fetters of the captive, 
going before the horses wreathed with garlands ; and will 
see the countenances' of some changed with their fortunes, 
those of others still firm, and forgetful of their condition. 
Some of them will be enquiring the reasons, and the circum- 
stances, and their names ; some will be telling, although 
they themselves know little about it. He who is resplendent 
on high in Sidonian purple, was the leader in the war ; 
he is next to our general. He, who is now fixing his 
sorrowful looks on the ground, bore not that countenance 
while he was in arms. That one in his pride, and who still 
sends burning glances from his indignant eyes, was the insti- 
gator and the adviser of the war. The one who covers his 
squalid face with his dishevelled locks, in his perfidy, hemmed 
our troops in an ambuscade. They say that by the priest that 
follows, the bodies of the captives were many a time offered 
up to the unpropitious Deity. This lake, these mountains, this 
number of fortresses, these many rivers, were all filled with 
slaughter, and were streaming -with, blood. Drusus, who was 
the excellent son of a worthy sire, once earned a title in these 
lands. Rhine, having broken his horns, and vainly conceal- 
ing himself in his sedge, will be discoloured by his own 
blood. See too, Germany is borne along with dishevelled 
hair, and sits in sadness at the feet of the invincible chief ; 
extending her courageous neck to the Roman axe, she is now 
bearing fetters on the hand with which she wielded arms. 

Duly, Caesar, art thou borne towering above these in thy 

here mentioned were probably Agrippina, the daughter of Julia and 
Agrippa, and who was the wife of Germanicus ; and Livia, the sister of 
Germanicus, who was the wife of Drusus, the son of Tiberius. 

6 Will read of.~\ — Ver. 20. Not only were the captives led in the 
triumphal procession, but models and paintings of the captured places 
were also exhibited, with their titles written over them. 



328 THE TJtISTIA; [b. iv. 

cause of your sorrow. Are you not sad ? Would that you 
were worthy of the husband lost to you. 

But grieve at your loss, my dearest wife, and pass a life em- 
bittered by my woes. Weep for my afflictions; there is a 
certain pleasure in weeping. Tears both satisfy sorrow and give 
vent to it. And, oh! that not my life, but my death were 
mourned by you ; and that by my death you had been left in 
solitude ! That this spirit, by your aid, had mingled with the 
air of my father-land ! That the tears of affection had bedewed 
my breast ! That your hands had closed my eyes, looking on 
my native sky at the last moment ! That my ashes had rested, 
laid in the tomb of my forefathers ! That the same earth had 
held me that was touched by my body at my birth ! And, lastly, 
that as I had lived, so I had died without stain ! Now, through 
my disgrace, my very life is a source of shame; 

Ah ! wretched am 1, if you think it a disgrace to be known as 
my wife ! Wretched am I, if you are now ashamed of being mine ! 
Where are those times gone, when you were wont to take a pride 
in your husband, and not to conceal his name ? Where are those 
times gone (unless, perchance, you desire to forget them), 
when it pleased you, as I remember, both to be called mine 
and to be mine ? As became a virtuous woman, I then was 
pleasing to you in all of my qualities ; and the esteem of your- 
self, who loved me, added much in my favour to what was 
true. No other man was there whom you would prefer (so 
great a prize did I seem to you), or whom you would rather have 
made your husband. And now be not ashamed that you are my 
wife ; your shame, and not your grief, ought to be laid aside. 

When the rash Capaneus fell by a sudden stroke, do you 
read that Evadne blushed for her husband ? Not because the 
King of heaven subdued the flames of the world with his 
bolts, wast thou, Phaeton, thyself to be disavowed by thy 
relations ? Semele was not disowned by her father Cadmus, 
because, through her ambition, she met her death by her en- 
treaties. And do not, because I have been struck by the 
cruel bolts of Jove, let the crimson blush arise on your placid 
face ; but rather arouse yourself to the care of defending me, 
and prove yourself the very pattern of a good wife for me : 
and adorn with your virtues your state of sorrow. Let glory, 
so difficult of attainment, mount the steep path. Who would 
have known of Hector, had Troy been flourishing ? A path 
has been laid open for fortitude, through the midst of 



E. iv. j OE, LAMENT OF OYLD. 329 

sorrows. Thy art, Tiphys, is thrown away, if there are no 
storms on the ocean ; if men are always in health, thy skill, 
Phoebus, is worthless. The virtue which, in prosperity, is 
concealed and lies unknown, makes its appearance and is 
proved in adversity. My fate gives you an opportunity for 
fame, and your piety has a height to which to raise its head 
aloft. Use, then, this opportunity, and trust in reliance 
on its advantages. Behold ! a wide field lies open for your 
fame. 



ELEGY IV. 

The Poet extols the virtues of his friend, and recounts his own hardships 
in exile at Tomi ; he beseeches him, while he conceals his name, to ask 
Augustus to grant him a more desirable place of exile ; and he says, 
that so great is the clemency of the Emperor, that he is sure that he 
will readily grant his request. He relates how Orestes fled with his 
sister from the cruelties of the neighbouring region ; and how the statue 

- of Diana was taken by them to a more happy clime. 

Oh thou ! who, whilst ennobled by the names of thy an- 
cestors, excellest thy high birth in the nobleness of thy 
manners : in whose mind exists the reflection of thy father's 
integrity, but in such degree that that integrity is not with- 
out its proper strength ; whose gift is eloquence in thy native 
language, so great, that there was none superior to it at the 
Latian bar. Far from my wishes, thou art described by signs, 
employed in place of thy name. Pardon for this the extent 
of thy fame. In nothing have I erred ; it is thy good deeds 
that betray thee ; if thou art seen to be what thou really 
art, then is my fault absolved. And do not suppose that es- 
teem shown for thee in my verses could hurt thee, under a 
Prince so just. The Father of his country himself (who more 
observant of the laws than he ?) endures often to be mentioned 
in my poetry. And Csesar cannot prevent it, because he be- 
longs to the public ; and a part is he, that belongs to us, of the 
common welfare. Jupiter proffers his own majesty to the scope 
of the poet's genius, and allows himself to be sung by the lips 
of all. Thy case is safe in the precedents of two of the Gods 
above ; of these, the one is seen, and the other is believed to 
be a God. 

Though I ought not, yet will I cling to this error of mine : 
my writings are not subject to thy control. The injury 



330 THE TEISTIA; 



[B. IV. 



arising from my addressing thee is nothing new ; for oft, while 
I was yet safe, had I conversed with thee. 

Therefore thou mayst have the less apprehension that I 
should cause thy disgrace by being a friend of thine : I, the 
origin of it, can bear the blame, if there is any. For thy 
father was always respected by me from my earliest years 
(at least conceal not that fact) : he used to praise my talents 
(this, perhaps, you can remember) ; yes, even more than I de- 
served, in my opinion ; and he used to tell about my verses 
in that voice in which some part of his high nobility of descent 
was conspicuous. It was not thee, then, but thy father, that 
was imposed upon, for it was his house that gave me a recep- 
tion. And yet, believe me, there was no deceit ; but in all my 
actions, if the last is excepted, my life cannot be impugned. 
Thou wouldst deny, too, that this fault, through which I was 
undone, was a crime, if the lengthened detail of so great a 
misfortune were known to thee. Either timidity or mistake, 
say rather mistake, proved my downfall. Ah, suffer me to 
lose the recollection of my fate, and let me not, by handling 
them, burst open my wounds not yet closed ; scarcely will rest 
itself be of any avail to them. Although, therefore, I am justly 
punished, yet all criminality and all bad intention were no part 
of my error. And of that the God is sensible ; for which 
reason, I have neither been deprived of life, nor does any 
other person possess my property taken from me. Perhaps 
(should he live) he will one day put an end to this banish- 
ment, when his wrath shall have become moderated. Now, 
my entreaty is, that he will order me to go hence : if 
my desire is not wanting in becoming moderation. I pray for 
a more civilized place of exile, and one a little nearer to Rome, 
and a spot which is at a greater distance from a savage 
enemy. And so great is the clemency of Augustus, that if any 
one asked him this for me, perhaps he would grant it. 

The cold shores of the Euxine Pontus confine me ; by the 
ancients it was called Axenus. For its seas are ruffled by 
no moderate breezes ; and there no stranger ship enters a 
quiet harbour. Around are tribes which seek their prey 
through bloodshed, and the land has no fewer sources of 
alarm than the faithless waves. Those whom thou hearest 
of as revelling in the blood of human beings, are situate almost 
under the sky of the same star. And not far from me is 
the place where the Tauric altar of the quivered Goddess is 



% V.] OR, LAMENT OF OVID. 331 

fed with dreadful slaughter. These regions formed once, as 
they tell, the realms of Thoas — realms not hateful to the 
wicked, nor desirable for the good. Here the virgin descendant 
of Pelops, the hind having been substituted for her, presided 
over the rites of the Goddess, such as they were. After 
Orestes, (whether more pious or wicked, is a matter of doubt,) 
driven by his avenging Furies, had come here, and his com- 
panion ; from Phocis, a pattern of true friendship, they 
who were two in body and one in mind : forthwith they were 
led in bonds to the altar of Trivia, which stood, all blood- 
stained, before the twofold doors. Neither did his own fate 
affect the one or the other of them ; each was in affliction, 
on account of the other's death. And now, with drawn sword, 
the priestess had taken her station, and a barbarian fillet 
had girded the Grecian locks ; when Iphigenia, in the course 
of conversation, recognised her brother, and gave him embraces 
in place of death. She joyfully transported the statue of the 
Goddess, who holds cruel rites in abhorrence, from those regions 
into more happy climes. 

This region, then, the most remote part of the vast world, 
from which both Gods and men have taken their flight, is 
neighbouring to me. Close to my country are these deadly rites, 
if, indeed, a land of barbarians can be the country of Naso. 
Would that those winds, by which Orestes was borne away, 
would bear back my sails, as well, the Divinity being appeased. 



ELEGY V. 

The Poet praises the constancy of his friend, and requests him never to 
fail in his friendly offices, and to speak in his favour to Augustus. He 
shows that, by length of time, all things, except his own woes, become 
more endurable ; and concludes, by wishing that every worldly happi- 
ness may be the lot of his friend. 

thoij, especially allotted to me by destiny among my beloved 
companions, the only altar 9 that I have found in my calamities; 

9 The only altar.'] — Ver. 2. "With the ancients, all altars to the Deities 
were places of refuge ; hence the present complimentary allusion. The 
supplicant was considered to place himself under the protection of the 
Deity to whom the altar was consecrated, and, under such circumstances, 
violence offered to the person so flying for refuge, even if a criminal, or a 
runaway slave, was looked upon as an act of sacrilege. 



332 THE TEISTIA ; [b. IV. 

through whose discourse, this spirit of mine, about to perish, 
resumed life, just as the watchful flame waxes strong by the 
infusion of oil, the invention of Pallas ; 10 thou, who didst not 
fear to open thy friendly doors, a refuge to my bark when 
struck by the lightnings ; through the aid of whose fortune I 
should not have found myself in want, had Caesar even de- 
prived me of my patrimonial property. While my feelings are 
carrying me away, forgetful of present circumstances, how 
very nearly did thy name escape me. Yet thou dost recognize 
thyself ; and, moved by the desire of applause, thou wouldst 
wish to say openly, " It is I." Truly would I, if thou wouldst 
allow me, be ready to give thee glory, and to commend thy 
remarkable constancy to Fame. But I fear lest I should injure 
thee by my grateful strains, and lest an honour paid to thee 
at a not fitting season, should be to thy prejudice. What 
thou mayst do in safety, rejoice in thy heart that I remember 
thee, and that thou keepest me in thy memory. And, as thou 
art cooing, strive with all thy oars to bear me aid, until a more 
gentle breeze arise, the God being propitiated. Do thou 
defend that person who can be saved by the aid of none, if 
he who has overwhelmed him on the Stygian wave should 
not give him his assistance. Do thou, also > what seldom 
happens, show thyself with constancy reac^y for every duty of 
a friendship not to be shaken. 

Then may thy good fortune have everlasting increase ; then 
mayst thou never stand in need of aid thyself, and mayst thou 
always help thy friends. May thy wife share with her 
husband in lasting felicity, and may but few complaints occur 
in your married life. And may thy brother, thy companion in 
blood, always love thee with that affection with which his 
attached brother loved Castor. May the youth, thy son, be 
like to thee, and, by his manners, may every one recognize that 
he is thy son. May thy daughter make thee a father-in-law, 
by lighting her marriage torch, and may she speedily confer 
the name of grandsire on thee while yet a young man. 

10 Invention of Pallas*'] — Ver. 4. ' Pallade,' literally the name of the 
Goddess, is here used to signify ' oil,' as Minerva, or Pallas, was the dis- 
coverer of the olive, from which it was extracted. 



E . vi.] OB, LAMENT Or OTID. 



ELEGY VI. 

Ovid here enlarges upon the effect of length of time, and says, that 
though by its efficacy all difficulties are surmounted, yet that his mise- 
ries experience no mitigation, but rather an increase, He complains of 
his protracted wretchedness, and describes its effects upon his health ; 
and concludes, by hoping that death will bring a speedy termination to 
his woes. 

Ix time, the bull becomes accustomed to tlie plough that tills 
the fields, and yields his neck to be pressed by the curving 
yoke. In time, the spirited horse obeys the flowing reins, and, 
with quiet mouth, receives the hard bit. In time, the anger of 
the Punic lions is assuaged, and the fierceness which once was, 
exists in their nature no longer. The Indian beast, 11 too, which 
obeys the commands of its master, overcome in time, submits 
to servitude. Length of time, too. causes that the grape 
swells out on the spreading clusters, and that the berries can 
scarcely contain the juice that they hold within. Time, too, 
pushes forth the seed into the whitening ears of corn ; and 
makes the apple to be not of a sour flavour. 'Tis this that 
blunts the edge of the plough that renews the land; 'tis this that 
wears the hard flint and the adamant. This, too, by degrees, 
mitigates raging anger ; this lessens sadness and elevates 
the sorrowing heart. Length of time, then, as it glides on 
with silent foot, is able to lessen everything except my cares. 

Since I have been deprived of my country, twice has the 
threshing floor been beaten with the corn ; twice has the 
grape, pressed with the bare foot, 12 been burst asunder. 
And yet, in so long a space of time, patience has not been ac- 
quired ; and my mind retains its sensitiveness to its recent woes. 
In fact, the oxen, even when old, fly from the curving yoke ; 
and the horse that has been broken in, often struggles against 
the bit. My present sorrow is even more bitter than it once 
was ; for though it be similar to its former self, it has waxed 
stronger, and increases as time wears on. My woes, too, were 

11 The Indian beast.'] — Yer. 7, 8. He alludes to the elephant, which 
in time is taught even to kneel, in obedience to the command of his 
master. 

12 With the bare feet. .] — Ver. 20. The. practice of crushing the grape 
by the pressure of the bare foot, prevails in the wine-growing countries of 
the south of Europe at the present day. 



334 THE TEISTTA; [l*. IV. 

not so well known to me once as they now are : but the better I 
become acquainted with them, the more heavily do they press 
upon me. This, too, is not the least evil, for one to bring fresh 
strength to their endurance, and not to become utterly spent 
beforehand by the passing sorrows. A fresh wrestler on 
the yellow sand is stronger than he whose arms are wearied 
with exercise for a length of time. The gladiator that comes 
fresh, is better in shining arms than he whose arms are red, 
stained with his own blood. The ship, but lately built, 
bears well the impetuous storm ; the old one is battered to 
pieces by ever so slight a gale. I, too, at first endured my 
sufferings with patience, and, by length of time, my evils have 
become multiplied. 

Believe me, I despair, and, judging from my body, so far 
as I can form an opinion, but few days will be added to my 
sorrows. For I have neither the strength nor the colour that I 
used to have, and scarcely have I a thin covering of skin for my 
bones. But my mind is more diseased than my sickening body, 
and it stands eternally gazing upon its afflictions. No sight is 
there here of the City ; my companions, my delight, are afar, 
and my wife, than whom nothing is dearer to me, is far distant. 
There is here a Scythian multitude, and crowds of the Getee 
wearing trowsers ; and so, both what I see, and what I cannot 
see, are a cause of misery to me. Yet one hope there is, which 
consoles me amid these things ; that, through my death, these 
woes will not last long. 



ELEGY VII. 

The Poet expresses his surprise, that, now two years have elapsed, he has 
received no letter from his friend, especially after he has heard from 
some with whom he was not so intimately acquainted. He adds, that 
he would rather believe any thing than that his friend had not written 
to him ; and he concludes that his letter must have miscarried. He 
tells him to write again and again, that he may not always have to sug- 
gest these excuses for him. 

Twice has the Sun visited me after the frosts of icy winter, 
and twice, passing through the Constellation of the Fish, has 
he run his course. In so long a time, why did not thy right 
hand employ itself on some lines to me, however few ? Why 
has thy affection grown tardy, while those have written to me 
with whom I had but little acquaintanceship ? Why, often as 



E. vrn.] OR, LAMENT OF OVID. 335 

I untied the fastenings of any packet, have I been hoping 
that it enclosed thy name ? Oh, that the Gods may grant 
that a letter has often been written by thy right hand, but 
that out of so many not one has reached me ! What I pray 
I am sure is the case. I will sooner believe that the face of 
Medusa, the Gorgon, is surrounded by locks formed of serpents ; 
that there are dogs beneath the stomach of the virgin Scylla ; 
that there is a Chimsera, which amid her flames divides the 
form of the lioness from that of the dreadful dragon ; that 
there are quadrupeds that have their breasts joined to the 
breasts of human beings ; that a man exists with three bodies, 
and a dog with three bodies ; that the Sphinx exists, the 
Harpies, and the Giants with serpents for their feet ; that 
Gyges, with his hundred hands, and the man half a bull 
exist. 13 I will believe all these things sooner, my dearest friend, 
than I will believe that thou, changed, hast ceased to care for 
me. Innumerable mountains and roads, and rivers and plains, 
and no little of the ocean, lie between thee and me. The letter 
which has been often sent by thee, may, for a thousand reasons, 
never have reached my hands. Yet overcome these thousand 
reasons by writing repeatedly : that I may not, my friend, 
always have to be excusing thee to myself. 



ELEGY VIII. 

He complains that now, in his fiftieth year, he is becoming hoary with 
age, in a wretched spot, at a time when he ought to have been enjoying 
the pleasures of home, and the society of his wife and friends. He says, 
that if his destiny had been foretold by the Delphic oracle, or by Do- 
dona, he could not have credited them, and should have accused them 
of falsehood. He shows that there is nothing strong enough to be 
able to resist the divine will and power, and he concludes by advising 
others to take a lesson from his misfortunes, and to deserve the esteem 
of Augustus, whose power is equal to that of the immortal Gods. 

Now do my years assume the hue of the feathers of the swan, 
and hoary age tints my black locks. Now hours of weak- 
ness are coming on, and old age more desirous of repose ; 

13 Half a bull exist.] — Ver. 18. He alludes to the Minotaur, half a 
man and half a bull, the fruit of the intrigue of Pasiphae with the Bull. 
The quadrupeds mentioned by the poet are the Centaurs. The man with 
three bodies was Geryon, or Herilus, mentioned by Virgil. The dog with 
three bodies was Cerberus. All of these are mentioned in fabulous story. 



336 THE TRISTIA ; [b. iv. 

and now it is a matter of difficulty to support myself in my 
weakness. Now was tjie time that I ought to live, having 
put an end to my toils, while no cares were harassing me ; 
to enjoy, too, that repose which was ever pleasing to my mind, 
and to be at ease amid my own pursuits ; to live in my humble 
home, and in my dwelling-place of old, and amid my patri- 
monial fields, which now are deprived of their master. Now I 
ought to be growing aged, free from care, in the bosom of my 
wife, among my dear grandchildren, and in my native land. 

My youth once hoped that this would come to pass ; and 
then I was worthy thus to spend these latter years. Other- 
wise did it seem to the Gods, who have exposed me in 
the Sarmatian regions, tossed to and fro by sea and by land . 
The shattered ships are taken into the excavated docks, that 
they may not go to pieces at hazard in the midst of the waves. 
The steed, worn out, crops the grass in the meadows, that he 
may not stumble, and thereby disgrace the many victories that 
he has won. The soldier, when, through length of years, he is 
no longer useful enough for war, puts away the arms which he 
has borne, at the home of his youth. So, too, as old age 
slowly creeping on, diminished my strength, it was time for 
me, as well, to be presented with my discharge. 14 It was time 
for me neither to be breathing a foreign atmosphere, nor to 
be quenching my parching thirst at a Getic spring, but rather, 
to be at one time retiring at my leisure to the gardens which 
I possessed, 15 at another, enjoying the intercourse of men and 
the pleasures of the City. 

Thus, in my former days, with a mind having no presage 
of the future, used I to desire to spend my old age in calm 
repose. The Fates refused it; who, though they granted 
me an early life full of delights, are now rendering my latter 
days wretched. And now, having passed fifty years with- 
out any stain, I am afflicted in the decline of my life. 
Not far from the goal, 16 at which I seemed almost 

14 Presented I with my discharge. .] — Ver. 24. Literally, ' rude donari' 
means, ' to be presented with a rod.' The ' rudis ' was a * rod/ or * foil,' 
with which soldiers or gladiators fought for exercise and sport. Such a 
rod was given to gladiators when, for their merit, they were discharged 
from fighting in the arena. Hence, figuratively, the term came to signify 
' to receive an honourable discharge/ or, ' to be released from one's duties/ 

15 Gardens which I possessed.'] — Ver. 27. He alludes to his patrimo- 
nial possessions at Sulmo, in the Apennines, the place of his birth. 

16 The goal.'] — Yer. 35. The * Meta ' was a pyramidal column at each 



E . vill.] OK, LAMENT OF OVID. 337 

to have arrived, a dreadful crash befel my chariot. Did I, in 
my madness, compel him to be angered against me, than whom 
the unbounded earth contains no one more full of mercy ? 
And was that very clemency overpowered by the magnitude of 
my faults ? And still was life not denied to my errors ? A 
life to be spent afar from my country, under the Northern 
pole, where the land extends on the left of the Euxine sea. 
Had Delphi and Dodona itself foretold me this, either place 
would have appeared untruthful to me. There is nothing 
strong enough, even though it be riveted with adamant, to 
be able to endure the impetuous bolt of Jove. Nothing is 
there so lofty, and that soars so high above dangers, that it is 
not lower than the Deity, and submissive to his will. For al- 
though a part of my sorrows was earned by my own fault, jet 
the wrath of the God awarded the greater share of my down- 
fall, for the better manifestation of his power. 

But be ye instructed, too, by my misfortunes, to deserve 
favour at the hands of one who is equal to the Gods above. 



ELEGY IX. 

The Poet threatens his enemy that he will attack him in his writings, if 
he does not desist from his hostility. 

If it is allowed me, and if thou sufferest me to do so, I will 
be silent on thy name and thy misdeeds ; thy actions shall 
be given to the waters of Lethe, and my forgiveness will be 
obtained by thy entreaties, even thus late. Only take care 
that it is clear that thou hast repented. Only remember to 
condemn thy own conduct, and to show a desire to cleanse 
thy life of these moments devoted to the Furies. 17 But if not, 
and if thy breast is still burning with hatred against me, 
my sad state of misery will assume the arms that have been 
forced upon it. Although, as I have been, I am sent to the 
extremity of the earth ; still even, thus far, shall my anger 

end of the Roman Circus, round which the horses and chariots turned 
seven times. Hence it came, figuratively, to mean, any fixed term or limit, 
to which to look forward. The goal here alluded to by the poet was the 
ease and quiet retirement of old age. 

17 The Furies.'] — Ver. 6. Literally, ' to Tisiphone,' the name of one 
Fury being used for all. 

7i 



338 THE TEISTIA ; [b. IV. 

stretch forth its hands. Caesar, if thou knowest it not, has 
left to me all my rights as a citizen, and my sole punishment 
is to be deprived of my country. From him, too, if he only 
lives, do I hope for a return to my country. Often does the 
oak thrive again, that has been struck by the bolts of Jove. 
In fact, if I have no means of vengeance, the Pierian maids 
will give me strength, and weapons of their making. Although 
I am living removed afar, amid the Scythian regions, and al- 
though the Constellations that avoid contact with the waves 
are close to my eyes, yet my commendations will travel through 
nations innumerable, and my complaints will become known as 
far as the earth extends. Whatever I shall give utterance to, 
will travel from the East to the West, and the climes of the 
morn will be conscious of the voice from Hesperia. Beyond 
the land, beyond the wide waves, shall I be heard, and great 
will be the echo of my laments. Nor will thy own age only 
be acquainted with thy guilt ; thou wilt be a disgrace to 
late posterity. 

I am now summoned to the combat, but not yet have 
I assumed my horns, 18 my weapons of defence ; and I would 
rather that there was no cause for assuming them. The Circus 
is as yet in quietude ; but the fierce bull is already spurning 
the sand, and is beating the ground with hostile hoof. Even 
this is more than I wished to say. Sound the retreat, my 
Muse, while yet it is allowed this man to conceal his name. 



ELEGY X. 

He gives an account of his life and his family, after saying when and 
where he was born. He describes the miseries of his exile, and says 
that the Muses are his only consolation and delight. 

That thou mayst know, Posterity, the man whose works thou 
art reading, understand that I am he who sportively sang of 
voluptuous love. 

Sulmo is my native place, which, abounding in its 
cold streams, is distant ninety miles from the Roman City. 
Here was I born, and (that you may know the date) at the 

18 My horns."] — Ver. 18. He is here comparing himself to a bull about 
to be baited in the Circus, which was one of the favorite sports of the 
Romans. As in Spain, at the present day, the bull was irritated by objects 
of a red colour being placed before his eyes, especially straw figures of 
men, clothed in that colour. 



E. x.] OE, LAMENT OF OVID. 3.39 

time when two Consuls fell with a similar death. If that is any- 
thing, I am heir to an hereditary Equestrian rank, descended 
from my ancestors ; and I was not created a Knight merely 
through the chance of riches. I was not the eldest son; I 
was born after my brother, whose birth was thrice four months 
before mine. The same light-bearing day was the birthday 
of us both ; one day was honoured by two sacrificial cakes. 
This day is one of the five festival days of the armed Mi- 
nerva, the one that is wont to be the first stained 19 with gla- 
diatorial blood. When young, we were attentively educated, 
and, through the care of our father, we resorted to men in the 
Roman City distinguished in the arts. My brother had a turn 
for eloquence from his earliest years, born, as it were, to the 
vigorous warfare of the wordy Forum. But, while yet a boy, 
the rites of the heaven-born maids delighted me, and imper- 
ceptibly the Muse attracted me to her vocation. Many a time 
did my father say, " Why are you striving at a worthless pur- 
suit ? Even the Maeonian bard himself left no wealth." I 
was influenced by his words ; and having entirely deserted 
Helicon, I endeavoured to write words disengaged from poetic 
measures. Spontaneously, my lines ran according to befitting 
numbers, and whatever I tried to express, the same was poetry. 
In the mean time, as years rolled on with silent pace, the 
gown of freedom 20 was assumed by my brother and myself. The 
purple with the broad hem 21 was put on our shoulders, and the 
attachment which before existed still remained. And now my 
brother had lived twice ten years, when he died ; and then was 
I first deprived of one half of myself. I enjoyed, too, the first 

19 The first stained."] — Ver. 14. This was the second day of the Quin- 
quatrus, or Quinquatria, the five day festival of Minerva, and the first of 
the gladiatorial shows on that occasion. The birth-day of Ovid was, 
therefore, on the 13th of the Calends of April, or the 20th of March. For 
a full account of the Quinquatria, see the third book of the 'Fasti/ 

20 The gown of freedom."] — Ver. 28. This was the 'toga virilism or 
'■ manly robe,' which was generally assumed by the young men in their 
seventeenth year. Full reference has already been made to the mode of its 
assumption, in the notes. 

21 The broad hem.] — Ver. 29. From Dr. Smith's Dictionary of 
Greek and Roman Antiquities, we learn, that Augustus formed a select 
class of ' equites/ or ' knights/ who possessed the property of a senator, 
and the former requirement of free birth up to the grandfather. He per- 
mitted this class to wear the ' latus clavus/ or ' broad hem/ and distin- 
guished them by the title ' illustres,' ' insignes,' and < splendidi/ 

z 2 



340 THE TEISTIA ; [b. iv. 

honours that belong to a tender age, and once I formed one 
of the Triumviri. The Senate-house still remained ; the 
breadth of my distinctive hem was still restricted : 22 that 
was a burden too onerous for my shoulders. My body was 
not fitted for labour, my mind could not endure fatigue, and 
I was one who shunned the anxieties of ambition. The 
Aonian sisters, too, persuaded me to seek a repose free from 
care, that had been always courted by my inclination. 

I loved and I honoured the poets of those days ; and as many 
bards as there were, I thought them to be so many Gods. 
Macer, 2S when stricken in years, many a time repeated to me 
his poem on birds, and each serpent that is deadly, each f herb 
that is curative. Many a time was Propertius wont to repeat 
to me his love songs ; he was united to me by the ties of 
friendship. Ponticus, 24 famous in heroic measure ; Bassus, 
'too, famed in Iambics, were delightful members of my circle. 
Horace, too, with his varied numbers, used to captivate my 
ears, while he sang his beauteous strains to his Ausonian lyre. 
I only saw Virgil ; and bitter destiny 25 did not grant time for 
my friendship to Tibullus. He was thy successor, Gallus ; 
Propertius was his. In order of time, I was the fourth of 
them ; as I honoured my seniors, so did those who were 
younger, honour me ; and my poetic talents were not long in 
becoming known. When first I recited my juvenile poems 
before the people, my beard had been shaved but once or 
twice. Corinna 26 (so called by a fictitious name), the subject 

22 Was still restricted,'] — Ver. 35. This expression seems contradictory 
to the words found in line 29, if we give them the meaning which Dr. 
Smith has, as quoted in the last note, given to them. It would not, how- 
ever, be at all discrepant with the suggestion which is made in the Intro- 
ductory Life of the poet, that the children of the knights were, up to a 
certain age, graced with the laticlave, as being candidates for senatorial 
rank. 

r« 23 Macer. ] — Ver. 44. ^Emilius Macer, a Roman poet, was a native of 
Verona ; he wrote a poem on plants, serpents, and birds ; and, according 
to Eusebius, he died in Asia. He was a friend of Virgil and Ovid; of 
whom he was the senior. 

2i Ponticus."] — Ver. 47. He wrote a poem on the Theban war, which 
Ovid compares with the writings of Homer. Of the poet Bassus, no par- 
ticulars have come down to us. Propertius merely mentions him as being 
a poet. . 

25 Bitter destiny.] — Ver. 52. Because the poet, Tibullus, died prema- 
turely, at a youthful age. 

546 Corinna.] — Ver. 60. It is most likely that this character is quite 



E. x.] OB, LAMENT OF OYID. 341 

of song throughout the whole City, had imparted a stimulus 
to my genius. 

Much did I write, but what I considered faulty, I myself 
committed to the all-correcting flames. At the time, too, when 
I was banished, I burnt some things that would have afforded 
amusement, being enraged both with my pursuits and with 
my verses. 

My heart was tender, and not proof against the darts 
of Cupid, and a slight cause could easily affect it. And 
yet, though this was my nature, and I caught fire with 
the slightest flame, there never was any scandalous story at- 
tached to my name. While yet but almost a boy, a wife 
was given me, neither worthy of me, nor good for anything ; 
she was married to me but a very short time. 27 A wife suc- 
ceeded her, who, though without any fault, was not destined 
long to be united to me. My last, who remained with me 
up to my later years, has endured to be the wife of a banished 
man. My daughter, who twice bore children in her early 
youth, but not by the same husband, made me a grandfather. 

And now my father had completed his allotted time, and to 
nine "lustra" had added nine other "lustra." 28 I bewailed him 
in no other degree than he would have bewailed me, if carried 
off. I performed the prescribed funereal rites for my mother, 
immediately after him. Happy were they both, and timely in 
their burial, that they died before the day of my punishment ! 
Fortunate, too, am I, that I am wretched when they no longer 
live, and that they had no misery on my account ! But yet, 
if anything remains to the dead besides their name, and if the 
unsubstantial ghost survives the erected pile, if the news 
about me reaches you, shades of my parents, and if my 
offences are taken cognizance of in the Stygian hall of judg- 
ment ; understand, I pray (and you I may not deceive), that 
error was the cause of my prescribed exile, and not criminality. 

This is enough for the shades below. I turn to you, 
studious minds, who enquire into the events of my life. 

ideal, originating solely in the imagination of the poet. Some have sug- 
gested that she represented the daughter ; others, the granddaughter of 
Augustus ; but without the slightest ground of probability. 

27 A very short time.'] — Ver. 70. She may have soon died ; but the 
probability is that he speedily divorced her ; and perhaps the same was the 
case with his second wife. 

28 * Lustra.']— Ver. 78. * A lustrum,' consisting of five years ; the poet's 
father would consequently be ninety years old at the time of his decease. 



342 THE TEISTIA ; [b. iv. 

Hoary age had now come upon me, the years of my prime 
having fled, and had tinted with its hue my hair, now grown 
ancient. And now, since the hour of my birth the victorious 
steed, crowned with the olive of Pisa, 29 had ten times carried 
away the prize ; when the anger of the offended Prince com- 
manded me to seek the people of Tomi, situate on the left side 
of the Euxine sea. The cause of my ruin, which is too well 
known to all, needs not to be pointed out by my testimony. 
"Why should I make mention of the wickedness of my attend- 
ants, and how my servants injured me ? 30 Many things did I 
endure, not less afflicting than my exile. My spirit disdained 
to succumb to misfortune, and showed itself unconquered, 
using its native energy. Forgetting, too, the arts of peace, and 
how my life was passed in tranquillity, I took up arms for the 
occasion 31 with hand unused to them. I endured as many 
-dangers, both by land and sea, as there are stars between the 
pole that is concealed, and the one that is seen. At last, the 
Sarmatian shore, that is adjoining to the quivered Getee, was 
touched by me, tossed about in wanderings 50 protracted. 
Here do I, though on every side I am stunned by the neigh- 
bouring warfare, alleviate my sad lot, so far as I am able, by my 
poesy. And, though there is no one to whose ear I can re- 
peat it, yet in this way do I consume and beguile my time. 

Thanks then to thee, my Muse, that I still live, and bear up 
against my heavy calamities, and that the irksomeness of a 
life of anxiety does not take possession of me. For it is thou 
that affordest me a solace, thou art a rest for my cares, a cure 
for my woes ; thou art my leader, thou art my companion ; 'tis 

29 Olive of Pisa."] — Ver. 95. The victors at the Olympic games, which 
were celebrated near Pisa, in Elis of the Peloponnesus, were crowned with 
olive. 

30 Servants injured me.] — Ver. 101. The attendants of his journey, 
here mentioned, were, probably, those deputed by Augustus to escort him 
to the place of his destination. According to his account, they seem to 
have conspired with his servants to increase his miseries on his journey to 
his place of exile. 

31 Arms for the occasion."] — Ver. 106. He seems here to allude to 
patience and resignation, as these were the only arms which could avail 
him during his voyage to his destination. If we are to translate the words 
literally, they would appear to imply that he considered himself in danger 
of his life during the voyage, and that he was forced to use weapons in 
self-defence, which fact, however, we do not find mentioned elsewhere in 
his writings. 



E. x] OB, LAMENT OF OVID. 343 

thou, that sendest me afar from the Danube, and that givest 
me a place in the midst of Helicon. Thou hast given to me 
(what rarely happens) that distinguished name while yet living, 
which Fame is wont to give after death. Envy, who dispa- 
rages what is present, has never fastened on any work of mine 
with her unjust tooth. For, although my age has produced great 
poets, Fame has not been unkind to my talents. And though 
I prefer many to myself, I am said to be not inferior to them ; 
and my works are much read throughout the whole world. If, 
then, the prophecies of poets contain any truth, though Fshould 
die at once, I shall not be thine, Earth. Whether through 
kindly feeling, or whether, through my verses, I have gained 
this celebrity of my own right, candid reader, I return thee 
thanks. 



344 THE TRISTIA ; [b. v. 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 



ELEGY I. 

Ovid, sending this last book of his Lament to Rome, requests his friends 
to receive it in addition to the four that he has sent before. He says, 
that under the sad circumstanees in which he is placed, he cannot pos- 
sibly write on any other than melancholy topics ; but that if he is re- 
stored to his native land, he will write on pleasing aud lively subjects. 
He concludes by craving pardon, should his lines prove not to the taste 
of the reader. 

Add this little book too, my friend, to those that have before 
been sent by me from the Getic shore : this, too, will be just 
such as the fortunes of the poet are. You will find nothing 
cheerful throughout my whole song. As my state is a mournful 
one, so are riry verses mournful, the writing befitting its 
master. Unharmed and joyful, I have composed playful and 
juvenile strains ; but now I repent that I composed them. 
When I fell, I assumed the heralding of my sudden fall ; and 
I myself am the originator of my own subject. Just as the 
bird of Cayster 1 is said, as he lies on its banks, to lament his 
death with his dying voice, so do I, expelled afar into the 
Sarmatian regions, cause my funereal rites not to pass by in 
silence. If any one seeks for love tales and wanton lines, I 
warn him beforehand never to read these compositions. 
Gallus will be better suited to him, and Propertius with his 
pleasing language ; Tibullus, too, a mind full of elegance, will 
be more adapted to Mm, Would that I was not one of that 
number ! Ah, wretched me ! why did my Muse ever become 

1 The bird of Cayster.'] — Ver. 11. Cayster was a river of Asia, not 
far from Ephesus. Swans were very numerous on its banks, and they were 
supposed to sing melodiously just before their death. 



E. i.] OK, LAMEKT OF OYID. 345 

thus sportive ? But I have paid the penalty, and the triiler 
with quivered Cupid is now far away in the regions of the 
Scythian Danube. For the future, I turn my attention to 
verses for the public perusal, and I have commanded them 
to be careful of their reputation ; but yet, if any one of you 
should ask the reason why I sing so many mournful lines : 
many a mournful woe have I endured. I compose not these 
lines through my inventive powers, or my skill ; my matter is 
ingeniously furnished by my own sorrows. How small a part 
of my fortunes is described in my lines ! Happy the man, who 
suffers evils that he can number ! As many as the shrubs 
which the woods contain, as many as the grains of sand 
which the yellow Tiber holds, as many as the tender blades 
of grass which the field of Mars bears, so many evils have I 
endured, for which there is no cure, no repose, but in in- 
dulging my poetic vein, and in the solace of the Muses. 

" What limit, Naso," you will say, " is there to be to your 
tearful ditties ? " The same, I sag, that will terminate this fate 
of mine ; this supplies me with complaints from an abundant 
source ; and these words are not mine, but those of my destiny. 
But if you were to restore to me my country, with my dear wife, 
then my features would be joyous, and I should be what once I 
was. Were the wrath of the invincible Caesar, against me, 
mitigated, then should I give thee Hues full of gladness ; 
but no more should my writings be sportive, as once they 
were ; let them indulge but once in that mischief. I would 
sing that which Augustus himself would approve ; if, only a 
part of my punishment being alleviated, I could escape from 
barbarism and the savage Getee. In the meanwhile, what em- 
ployment but a mournful one can my writings have ? That is 
the pipe that befits my funereal obsequies. 

" But," you will say, " you could have better borne your evils 
in silence, and have quietly concealed your woes !" In this you 
are requiring that no groans should be consequent upon my tor- 
ture, and are forbidding me to weep, after receiving a severe 
wound. Phalaris himself allowed him who was inclosed in the 
brass of Perillus to utter his shrieks, and to lament, through the 
mouth of the bull. Achilles was not offended by the tears of 
Priam ; whereas you, more cruel than ang enemy, forbid my 
tears. When the progeny of Latona made Niobe childless, they 
still did not command her to keep her cheeks untouched by tears. 



346 THE TEISTIA ; [b. v. 

J Tis something to alleviate a deadly evil, by giving utterance 
to sorrow ; His this that makes Progne and Haley one 3 always 
complaining ; this was the reason why Philoctetes, the son of 
Pseas, in the cold cavern, wearied the Lemnian rocks with his 
voice. Grief repressed chokes one ; it agitates internally, and 
is compelled to redouble its intensity. Grant me pardon rather, 
or lay aside all my works ; if, reader, that hurts you which is 
my delight. But they cannot hurt you: my writings were never 
injurious to any one but their author. 

They are but poor, I confess. Who compels you to take them 
up ; or who forbids you, when disappointed, to put them down 1 
I do not correct them, but I wish them to be read as being com- 
posed here : they are not more uncouth than the place of their 
origin; and Rome ought not to form comparisons of me with 
her own poets. Among the Sauromatae I shall pass for talented. 
Lastly, no glory is sought by me, nor that Fame which is wont 
to stimulate the genius. I desire my mind not to be consumed 
by everlasting cares, which still break in, and go where they are 
forbidden to go. I have said whyjl write : you ask why I send 
these works ; it is, that I wish to be among you, in some mea- 
sure at least. 



ELEGY II. 

Writing to his wife, he says that he is well in health, but that his grief 
is still as intense as when he was first banished by Augustus. He expa- 
tiates upon the innumerable misfortunes which surround him on every 
side. He entreats her to apply to the Emperor in his behalf, as the 
cause for his punishment was not of a serious nature, and the clemency 
of Caesar is known to be extreme ; and he says, that in this spirit of 
mercy is centred his only hope of a mitigation of his punishment. 

And do you grow pale when a fresh letter arrives from Pontus ; 
and is it unfolded by you with a tremulous hand 1 Lay aside 
your apprehensions : I am well, and my body, which formerly 
was weakly, and unable to endure fatigue, is recruited, and, 
tossed abuut, lias become hardy by length of habit. Oris it 

2 Haley one.] — Ver. 60. She was the daughter of ^Eolus and iEgiale, 
and the wife of Ceyx, on hearing of whose death, she threw herself into 
the sea. The Gods, in their compassion, changed them both into king- 
fishers. 



E. ii.] OK, LAMENT OE OYLD. 347 

rather that I have no leisure to be ill ? Yet my spirit is pros- 
trated by weakness, and has acquired no strength by lapse of 
time ; and the condition of my mind remains the same as it 
was before. The wounds, which I supposed would close in 
length of time, and at their proper season, pain me as though 
this moment inflicted ; in truth, length of years is good for 
little mishaps, but in lapse of time, evils are added to heavy ca- 
lamities. For almost ten whole years did the son of Paeas 
endure the pestilential venom yielded by the puffing serpent. 
Telephus would have died, consumed with lasting disease, if 
the hand that did the injury had not brought the remedy. 
I hope, since I have committed no crime, that he who has 
caused my wounds will be ready to assuage them thus made ; 
and now at length, satisfied with a part of my penalty, may he 
take a little drop of water from the full ocean. However much 
he may take off, much of what is bitter will remain ; and a 
part of my banishment will, in its intensity, be equal to the 
whole. As many as the shells which the sea shore contains, 
as many as the flowers which the pleasant rose-beds bear, as 
many as the grains which the drowsy poppy holds, as many 
as the wild beasts which the wood nourishes, as many as the 
fishes that swim in the waves, as many as the birds that 
beat the thin atmosphere with their wings, by so many adver- 
sities am I overwhelmed. Should I endeavour to enumerate 
them, I might as well attempt to tell the number of the waves 
of the Icarian Sea. To pass over in silence the casualties of 
my journey, the bitter dangers of the ocean, and the hands 
that were arrayed against my life : a barbarous country, one the 
most distant in the great earth, now confines me, a place beset 
with savage enemies on every side. 

Hence I should be transferred (for my crime is not a capital 
one), if you had the care for me which you ought to have. 
That God, on whom the Roman empire justly relies, when a 
conqueror, was often merciful towards Ms enemy. "Why 
do you hesitate ? Why fear, when there is no danger ? go 
and ask him. The vast earth contains nothing more full of 
clemency than Csesar. 

Ah, wretched me! What shall I do if those dearest to me 
forsake me? Do you, too, withdraw your neck from the yoke now 
broken ? No anchor now holds my bark. He may look to it : I 
myself, hated as I am, will fly for refuge to the sacred altar : the 
altarremoves the hands of none. Behold ! at a distance I address 



348 THE TKISTIA ; [b. v. 

the Deity that is present ; if it is allowed man to be able to 
commune with Jove. 

Thou ruler of the empire, in whose safety it is evi- 
dent that all the Gods have a care for Ausonia. Thou 
Glory, thou resemblance of the country that flourishes 
through thee, thou that art not less in value than the world 
that thou dost govern ; mayst thou live on earth, may the 
heavens long spare thy presence there ! far distant be the time 
for thee to go to the stars, which have been promised thee ! 
Pardon me, I pray, and remove but the least portion of thy 
lightnings : what shall then remain will be a sufficient punish- 
ment. Thy anger, indeed, has been moderated, and thou hast 
granted me my life : I am neither deprived of the rights nor 
the name of a citizen. My property has not been granted to 
others ; nor am I styled an exile in the words of thy edict. 
All these things I dreaded, because I seemed to deserve them ; 
but thy anger was more moderate than my offence. Thou hast 
ordered me to go in banishment to the fields of Pontus, and to 
cleave the Scythian seas in the fleeing ship. By thy command, 
I came to the unsightly shores of the Euxine Sea. This land is 
situated under the icy pole. Not so much does the climate 
annoy me, never free from cold, and the ground ever parched 
up with hoar frost : and the barbarous tongue that is ignorant 
of the Latin language, and the fact that the Greek dialect 
has been overpowered by the Getic pronunciation ; as, that I 
am hemmed in, beset on every side by the neighbouring hosts; 
and a narrow wall scarcely renders me safe from the enemy. 
Yet there is peace sometimes, but never any confidence in that 
peace ; and so the place is at one time experiencing war, at 
another, it is standing in dread of it. 

So that I be only removed hence, let either Zanclsean Charyb- 
dis devour me, and by its waters send me to Styx, or let me 
patiently be consumed in the flames of glowing iEtna; or let me 
be thrown in the deep waters of the Leucadian God. What is 
inquired, is punishment, and I refuse not to be wretched ; 
but I entreat that I may be wretched with a little more safety 
to myself. 



E. in.] OE, LAMENT OF OTID. 349 



ELEGY III. 

He laments that lie cannot be at Rome to assist at the celebration of the 
festival of Bacchus by the poets, as had been his former custom. He 
expresses surprise that Bacchus should have thus neglected one of his 
devotees, and concludes by praying him, and his companions the poets, 
to entreat Caesar to permit his return. 

This is the day, Bacchus, on which the poets are wont to cele- 
brate thee, if I am not deceived in the time ; and now they 
bind their temples with the fragrant wreaths, and sing thy 
praises over thy wine. Among them, as I remember, while 
my destiny permitted it, I was one by no means hated by thee. 
The Sarmatian region, neighbouring to the ferocious Getse, 
now confines me, placed beneath the stars of the Cynosurian 
Bear. I, who in former days passed a life of ease, and freedom 
from labour, amid my poetic studies, and in the company of the 
Muses, am now, far from my country, surrounded on every 
side by the Getic arms, having first endured many fatigues on 
the sea, many by land : whether 'twas chance, or whether the 
anger of the Gods, that caused me this, or whether my destiny 
was lowering at my birth ; still thou oughtst, by thy divine 
power, to have defended one of the sacred cultivators of the ivy. 
Is it, that everything which the Sisters, the mistresses of Fate, 
have pronounced, ceases to be under the influence of a Deity ? 
Thou thyself, too, for thy deserts, hast been carried to the 
heights of heaven, a way to which was made by no small 
exertion. Thy native land was not inhabited by thee ; but 
thou didst come even as far as the snowy Strymon, 3 and the 
Getan devoted to Mars ; to Persia, too, and the Ganges spread- 
ing with its broad stream, and the waters which the swarthy 
Indian drinks. In truth, the Destinies, spinning the threads of 
Fate, twice pronounced this doom for thee, twice born. 4 If I 
am allowed to follow the example of the Gods, a rigid and a 
hard lot in life harasses me too. Not less heavily did I fall, 
than he whom Jupiter drove with his bolt from Thebes, while 

3 The snowy Strymon.~\ — Ver. 22. The Strymon was a river which, 
taking its rise in Mount Hsemus, separated Thrace from Macedonia. 

4 Thee twice born.~\ — Ver. 26. Because he was first taken from the 
womb of Semele, and, being enclosed in the thigh of Jupiter, was pro- 
duced from it, when he had arrived at the completion of the usual 
period of gestation. 



350 THE TEISTIA ; [b. v. 

boasting aloud. But thou, when thou hast heard of the poet 
struck by the lightnings, mayst condole with him from the 
recollection of thy mother. And thou mayst, when looking 
upon the poets assembled around thy sacrifice, say, " I know 
not which worshipper of mine it is that is absent." 

Give me thy aid, good Bacchus ; let the vine weigh down the 
lofty elm, and let the grape be full of the wine inclosed in it. 
Let the active youthful troop of the Satyrs, with the Bacchanals, 
accompany thee, and be not thou silent amid the stunning noise. 
And may the bones of Lycurgus wielding the axe be but lightly 
covered, and may the impious shade of Pentheus not escape pun- 
ishment. May the Cretan crown of thy spouse shine for ever 
in the heavens, and surpass in radiance the neighbouring Con- 
stellations. 

Come hither, most beauteous God, and alleviate my woes, 
remembering that I am one of thy number. There exists an 
intercourse among the Gods : do try, Bacchus, to soften the 
divine power of Caesar by thy divine influence. 

You too, ye poets, a holy band, sharers in my pursuits ; 
do ye, each of you, after making a libation of wine, prefer a 
like petition. And may some one of you, when the name of 
Naso is mentioned, set down the cup that has been mingled 
with his tears : and remembering me, when he looks round 
upon the rest, may he say, "Where is Naso, who was but 
lately a member of our society V s And thus be it ; if by my 
uprightness I have deserved your esteem ; and if not a line of 
your works was ever injured by my criticism. If, too, at the 
same time that I pay due veneration to the writings of the men 
of old, I am of opinion that the recent compositions are not in- 
ferior to them. Then, may you continue to compose your verses 
under the auspices of Apollo ; and, so far as you can, keep up 
my name among you. 

ELEGY IV. 

He represents his letter as announcing its arrival at Rome, and extolling 
the constancy of his friend, to whom it was sent. He entreats him al- 
ways to continue his friendship and support. 

I, a lettee from Naso, have come from the Euxine Sea, 
wearied with the ocean, wearied too with my journey. He, 
with tears, said to me, " Do you, to whom it is permitted, 
visit Rome ; how much preferable, alas ! is your fate to my 



E, iv.] OB, LAMENT OP OVID. 351 

own ! " In tears, too, did he write me ; and the signet with 
which I was sealed was not first put to his mouth, 5 but to his 
moistened cheeks. If any one desires to know the cause of 
his sorrow, he is requiring the Sun to be pointed out to him. 
He neither sees leaves in the woods, nor the tender grass on 
the wide meadow, nor water in the flowing stream. He will 
wonder why Priam grieved, when Hector was snatched from 
him ; or why Philoctetes wept, when stung by the serpent. 
Oh ! that the Gods would grant that my master's state were 
such that no cause for grief were to be lamented. Yet, as he 
ought to do, he bears his bitter sorrows with patience, and re- 
fuses not the bridle like an unbroken horse. Nor yet does 
he expect that the wrath of the Deity will be lasting, as he is 
conscious that criminality was no part of his fault. He 
often mentions how great is the clemency of the God ; and is 
wont to reckon himself as an illustration of it. For he says that 
it is through the favour of that God that he still possesses his 
patrimonial property, and the name of a citizen, and, in fine, 
that he still lives. 

But thee, friend beloved more than all, if thou be- 
lievest me, he always retains in his entire heart. He calls 
thee his son of Mensetius, thee his companion of Orestes, 
thee his son of iEgeus, thee his own Euryalus. He longs 
not more for his own country, and the many other things of 
which, with his country, he finds himself deprived, than for a 
sight of thy features, and thy eyes, thou, that art sweeter to 
him than the honey which the Attic bee lays up in the combs ! 

Many a time with tears, does he remember that day, which he 
grieves was not anticipated by his death. And while others 
fled the contact of his sudden downfall, and were unwilling to 
approach the threshold of a stricken house ; he bears in mind 
that thou, with a few more (if any one calls two or three a 
few), remained faithful to him. Although struck with amaze- 
ment, he was sensible of every thing, and saw that thou didst 
grieve at his sorrows not less than himself. He is wont to 
recall to memory thy words, thy features, thy lamentations, 
and how that with thy tears thou didst bedew his bosom ; he 
remembers the aid that thou didst give him, the comfort with 
which thou didst console thy friend, when thou thyself shouldst 

5 To hislmouth.~] — Ver. 5. By this remark we see that in those days, 
as with us now, they were in the habit of moistening the seal before they 
applied it to the wax. 



352 THE TKISTIA; [b. v. 

have been consoled. For these things he declares that he 
will prove grateful and affectionate, whether he beholds the 
light of day, or is buried in the ground. By his own head, 
and by thine, was he wont to swear : thine which, I know, is 
not less dear to him than his own. May abundance of thanks 
be given in '-return for services so many and so great ; he 
will not allow thy oxen to plough the barren sea-shore. 6 Only, 
do constantly defend the exile. What he, who knows thee 
well, asks not, that do I myself entreat thee. 



ELEGY V. 

He prepares to celebrate the birthday of his wife, on whose behalf 
he prays for every blessing, and extols the day that brought into the 
world one so deserving of admiration for every virtue. And, though she 
deserves a better fate, he entreats her to endure her sufferings with 
equanimity, as virtue becomes the most conspicuous when suffering ad- 
versity. He entreats the Gods, that, if they refuse to pardon him, they 
will spare his wife, who has been guilty of no crime. 

The yearly birthday demands the wonted honour for its mis- 
tress : turn, my hands, to the rites of affection. Thus, per- 
haps, in former days, the hero, son of Laertes, celebrated the 
festive day of his wife at the extremity of the earth. Let an 
auspicious tongue be used, forgetting my protracted woes : it, 
I doubt, has quite forgotten by this, how to utter words of happi- 
ness. Let, too, the white dress be assumed, (not according 
in its hue with my lot,) which is put on by me but once a year. 
Let the altar, too, be erected, green with the grassy turf ; and 
let the wreath, bound to it, veil the warm hearth. Boy, give 
me the frankincense, that makes the strong flame, and wine 
to hiss when poured on the flame lighted by affection. 
Dearest natal day ! Although we are far distant, I wish thee 
to come hither in white array, and unlike to mine* And if 
any direful calamity impended on thy mistress, let her have 
suffered it for all future time in my misfortunes. And let the 
bark, which has lately been more than shattered by a dreadful 
storm, for the future, speed onward through the sea in safety. 

6 Barren sea-shoreJ] — Ver. 48. By this remark he means that he 
will not show himself devoid of gratitude, and of a desire to make a due 
return for his kindness. 



E. v.] OK, LAMENT OF OVID. 353 

May she enjoy her home, the society o/*her daughter, and her 
country ; let it suffice for her to be torn from me only. And 
since she is not blessed in her beloved husband, let the other 
portion of her life be without a cloud of sorrow. May she 
live, and may she love her husband far away, since this she 
is obliged to do ; and may she fill her destined years, but after 
a prolonged life. I would add mine as well ; but I am afraid, 
lest the contact of my destiny should taint the years that she 
is passing. 

There is nothing sure to mortals. Who could have sup- 
posed that it would come to pass, that I should be cele- 
brating these rites in the midst of the Getse? But see 
how the breeze wafts the smoke, arising from the frankincense, 
towards the regions of Italy, and the lands on my right hand. 
There is sense, then, in the clouds which the fire raises ; 
almost every thing else refuses to second my purpose. De- 
signedly, when the common rites were being performed on the 
altar, for the brothers who perished by each other's hand, did 
the black ashes, at variance, divide themselves into two parts, 
as though at their command. This I remember, I was 
wont formerly to say, could not happen ; and, in my 
opinion, the son of Battus spoke not the truth. Now, I be- 
lieve it all : when thou, conscious smoke, fliest from the 
North, and takest the direction of Ausonia. This, then, is the 
day ; and had this not risen, no festival would there have been 
to be seen by me. This day gave birth to virtues equal to 
those of the heroines, of whom Eetion and Icarius 7 were the 
fathers. Then was chastity, morality, honesty, and fidelity 
brought forth : but on this day joyousness was not produced : 
but toil, and care, and a destiny unsuited to her virtues, and 
just complaints of a union almost widowed. 

In truth, probity, harassed by adversity, furnishes a subject 
for praise in its day of sorrow. Had the hardy Ulysses 
seen nothing of adversity, Penelope would have been happy, 
but unknown to fame. If the hero Capaneus had vic- 
toriously penetrated to the citadel of Echion, 8 perhaps her 

7 Eetion and Icarius.] — Ver. 44. Eetion was the father of Andro- 
mache, the wife of Hector ; and Icarius was the father of Penelope, the 
wife of Ulysses ; both of them, women celebrated for their virtues. 

8 Citadel of Echion.'] — Ver. 53. This was Thebes, in Bceotia. Echion 
assisted Cadmus in building it. Capaneus was struck with lightning, when 
uttering threats against the city; 

A A 



354 THE TEISTIA ; [b. v. 

own land would scarcely have known of Evadne. When so 
many daughters of Pelias were born, why is but one famous ? 
It is because she only was married to an unfortunate hus- 
band. Make it so that another should be the first to touch 
the Trojan sands ; there would then be nothing for Lao- 
damia to be mentioned for. And your affection would have 
remained unknown, as I should have preferred, if favouring 
breezes had filled my sails. 

And yet, ye Gods, and thou, Csesar, to be added to the 
number of the Gods, but at a far distant period, when thy life 
nas equalled in number the Pylian days of Nestor ; spare, not 
me, who confess that I have deserved punishment, but her, who 
sorrows when she is deserving of no sadness. 



ELEGY VI. 

He complains that he is deserted by his friend ; and entreats him to main- 
tain that friendly feeling which had formerly existed between them. 

And dost thou, too, once the safeguard of my fortunes, who wast 
my refuge and my haven, dost thou even throw aside the cause 
of thy acknowledged friend ; dost thou so soon dismiss the affec- 
tionate obligations of duty ? I am a burden, I confess ; but 
if thou wast about to lay that burden&own in adversity, it should 
not have been taken up by thee. Dost thou desert the ship, 
Palinurus, in the midst of the waves ? Fly not, and let 
not thy confidence be less than thy skill. Did the incon- 
stancy of the faithful Automedon desert the steeds of Achilles 
during the fierce battle ? Did not Podalirius 9 afford the 
promised aid of the medical art to the invalid whom he had 
once received 1 The stranger is turned out with more dis- 
grace to the host, than is the case if he is not first received. 
Let the altar which has been afforded me, stand firm for my 
right hand. 

i At first, thou didst defend nothing but myself alone ; 
do thou now defend both me and the opinion thou hadst 
formed of me ; if only there is no new fault in me, and 
if my alleged crimes have not suddenly wrought a change 
in thy confidence. May this breath, which I draw with diffi- 
culty in the Scythian air, first leave my limbs (as I wish it 

9 Podalirius.] — Ver. 11. He was a son of iEsculapius, and with his 
whether Machaon, accompanied the Grecian army to the Trojan war, 
brore they acquired great celebrity by their skill in the healing art. 



K. vi.] OR, LAMENT OF OVID. 355 

may) before thy heart be wounded by any fault of mine, and 
before I deservedly appear worthless to thee. I am not so 
entirely crushed by my adverse destiny, that my mind, as well, is 
affected by my prolonged misfortunes. Imagine it affected, 
however : how often, dost thou suppose, that the son of Aga- 
memnon uttered harsh words against Pylades? and it is 
not very unlikely that he may have even struck his friend ; 
yet not a whit the less did he remain firm in his dutiful atten- 
tions. This is the only thing in common with the wretched 
and the happy, that devotedness is wont to be shown towards 
them both. Room is made both for the blind, and for those 
whom the praetextal robe 10 and the rod of command, together 
with their orders, causes to be dreaded. If thou dost not 
consider me, yet thou oughtst to be considerate to my lot ; anger 
has no grounds for its existence, in my case. Choose the least, 
yes, the very least, of my afflictions ; it will be far greater 
than what thou dost imagine it to be. As many as the reeds 
with which the wet ditches are filled, as many as the bees 
which the flowery Hybla holds, as many as the ants which 
are wont to carry the grains which they have found, by the 
narrow path to their subterranean granaries, so numerous do 
the multitudes of my countless evils throng around me. Be- 
lieve me, my complaints come short of the truth. He who is 
not contented with these, would pour sand on the sea shore, 
ears of corn amid the standing crop, and water in the waves. 
Restrain, then, thy unreasonable fears, and do not forsake my 
sails, in the midst of the ocean. 



ELEGY VII. ' 

Ovid tells his friend, who inquires what he is doing in Scythia, that he 
lives a life of misery. He describes the manners of the inhabitants of 
Tomi, and says that he beguiles his griefs by writing poetry, and that, 
amid his compositions alone, he is able to forget his misfortunes. 

The letter which thou readest, comes to thee from that land, 
where the wide Danube is added to the waters of the ocean. 

10 The prcetextal robe,] — Ver. 31. The 'toga praetexta' had a broad 
purple border. It was worn by the Consuls and other magistrates, not 
only of Rome, but of the colonies, and the ' municipia,' and by the priests 
and other persons when engaged in celebrating sacred rites. The ' rod of 

A A 2 



55 6 THE TKXSTIA; [ B# v# 

If life, with pleasing health, is thy lot, one part of my destiny 
is still propitious. J 

Doubtless, my dearest friend, as thou alwayst dost, thou 
mquirest what I am doing? although thou mightet know that, 
even if I were silent upon it. I am wretched ; this is the limited 
.substance of my woes ; and whoever shall live, having offended 
Caesar, will be so. 

Hast thou a wish to learn what is the race in the region 
of Tomi, and among what manners I am living ? 

Although this spot is divided among the Greeks and the Getse 
it follows rather the customs of the Getse, who have been 
but half subdued. A greater multitude of the Sarmatian 
and of the Getic nations comes and goes along its roads on 
horseback. Among them there is no one who does not carry 
a bow-case, 11 a bow, and arrows livid with the venom of ser- 
pents. Their voice is wild, their countenance savage, the 
very resemblance of Mars; neither their hair nor their 
beard is shorn by any hand. Their right hand is not slow 
to give a wound with the implanted knife, which every one of 
these barbarians wears, fastened to his side. Thy poet, alas » 
my friend, lives in the midst of these, forgetful of his'gentle 
loves ; these he beholds, to these he listens. And may he live 
but not die among them ! And still may his ghost be far 
away from these baleful regions ! 

Thou writest, my friend, that my verses are danced to in the 
crowded theatre, and that applause is given to my lines I 
indeed, have done nothing for the theatres, and thou thyself 
knowest it, and my Muse never was ambitious of applause 
on the stage. But whatever precludes forgetfulness of me, and 
brings the name of me, in banishment, into the mouths of the 
people, is far from displeasing. And yet sometimes I curse 
my verses and my Pierian mistresses, when I recollect the 
injury they have done me ; and, after I have cursed them to 
the utmost, still I cannot exist without them, and I attach my- 
self to the arms that are stained with the blood of my wounds. 
command,' ' virga imperiosa,' here mentioned, was probably the rod with 
which the Lictor was wont to summon people to move aside, as the Con- 
sul or other magistrate was passing. 

» A bow case.]— Ver. 15. This is the usual meaning of the word 
corytos, though, perhaps, it may here mean a case in which both the bow 
and arrows were kept, which was frequently used by the Eastern nations, 
and sometimes by the Greeks and Romans. 



B. vn.] OE, LAMENT OF OYID. 357 

The Grecian bark, which has just been shattered by the Eu- 
bcean waves, dares to cleave the waters of Caphareus. But 
yet I have no anxiety to be praised, and I have no care for 
future glory, which had, more to my comfort, better been ob- 
scured. I occupy my mind with my pursuits, and I beguile 
my sorrows ; I try, too, thereby to deceive my cares. What 
should I do, in preference, alone on these solitary shores ? or 
what occupation wouldst thou rather that I should endeavour 
to seek ? If I look at the place, it is odious ; and there can- 
not, in all the world, be one more wretched than it. If 
I look at the men : the men are hardly worthy of that 
name, and they have more savage ferocity than wolves. 
They regard not laws, but right yields to might, and jus- 
tice, overcome, lies prostrate under the warlike sword. They 
poorly repel the cold, with skins and flowing trowsers ; and 
their faces are rough, covered with long hair. Yestiges of 
the Greek language are remaining, in a few words : this, 
too, has become barbarous, through the Getic pronunciation. 
There is no one among this people who can by chance trans- 
late into Latin, words in general use. I, ivho am a poet of 
Rome (pardon me, ye Muses), am compelled to say many 
things in the Sarmatian language. I am ashamed, I confess 
it ; for now, from long disuse, scarcely do the Latin expres- 
sions occur to me ; and I have no doubt but that there are no 
few barbarisms in this little work. That is not the fault of 
the man, but of the place. But, that I may not lose all ac- 
quaintance with the Ausonian tongue, and my voice become 
dumb in its native language, I talk to myself, and I run over 
the unaccustomed words, and repeat the unfortunate expo- 
nents 12 of my pursuits. Thus I occupy my mind and my 
hours ; and thus I take myself away, and remove myself from 
the contemplation of my woes. I seek in my verse forgetful- 
ness of my miseries ; if by my pursuits I obtain that reward, 
it is enough. 

12 Unfortunate exponents."] — Ver. 64. He either means words or lines ; 
because, either through speaking without due precaution, or, at least, osten- 
sibly through his poetical effusions, he was sentenced to banishment. 



358 THE TEISTIA; [b. v. 



ELEGY VIII. 

He recommends an enemy, who insults him, to remember the fickleness of 
fortune, and to cease to exult at his downfall ; and he tells him, that it 
may possibly be his fortune to be permitted to return, and see his an- 
tagonist exiled, for some offence of greater magnitude. 

Although prostrate, not so low have I fallen, that I am be- 
neath even thee, than whom nothing can be lower. What 
is it that excites thy anger against me, thou wretch ? Or why- 
dost thou insult my misfortunes, which thou thyself mayst 
have to endure ? Do not my miseries, at which even wild 
beasts might weep, render thee gentle and lenient towards 
me, thus lying prostrate? And dost thou stand in no 
fear of the divine power of Fortune, standing on the un- 
steady wheel, 12 * and of the Goddess that abhors boast- 
ful words? Ah! the Rhamnusian avenger 13 will exact a be- 
fitting punishment ! Why dost thou crush my destiny with 
thy foot placed upon it ? I myself have beheld a shipwreck, 
and men drowned in the sea ; and I said, never were the 
waves more justly avenging. He who once denied a worthless 
morsel of food to the destitute, is now fed upon the bread of 
charity. Fleeting Fortune wanders with doubting steps, and 
remains in no one place for certain, and to be relied upon. At 
one moment, she abides in a place full of joy; at another, she 
assumes an austere countenance ; and only in her very fickle- 
ness is she constant. My fortunes, too, have had their bloom, 
but that bloom was but fleeting, and my brilliant flame arose 
but from stubble, and was of short duration. 

But that thou mayst not relish thy savage joy with all 
thy soul, I tell thee, my hope of appeasing the Divinity is not 
quite extinguished. Both because I committed a fault which 
fell short of criminality ; and though my error is not unaccom- 
panied with shame, it is not attended with hatred : and because 
the vast earth, from the rising of the sun to his setting, contains 
nothing more full of clemency, than he, to whom it pays obe- 

*** On the unsteady wheel.] — Ver. 7. The Goddess Fortuna was repre- 
sented as standing on a wheel, the attitude being indicative of her unsteadi- 
ness and inconstancy. 

13 The Rhamnusian avenger. ,] — Ver. 9. Nemesis, the Goddess of jus- 
tice and retribution, was thus called, from RhamnuSj one of the boroughs 
of Attica, where she had a temple. 



E. nil,] OE, LAMENT OF OYID. 359 

dience. Truly, as he is not to be subdued by force by any 
one, in the same degree lie has a heart that is tender to hum- 
ble entreaties. And from him, after the example of the Gods, 
to whom he is one day to be added, I shall obtain many other 
requests, with a remission of my punishment. 

If thou wast to count the fine days and the cloudy ones, 
throughout the year, thou wouldst find that the day has oftener 
been bright. Therefore, that thou mayst not exult too much in 
my downfall, consider that even I may one day be restored to 
my country. Consider that it may happen, that, the Prince 
being appeased, thou in thy sadness mayst behold my features 
in the midst of the City, and I may behold thee exiled for a 
more weighty reason. This is my next prayer after my 
former one. 14 



ELEGY IX. 

He praises the constancy of his friend, and says, that it is through his' bene- 
ficence that he exists, and he expresses his gratitude for it. He says that 
he would wilhngly make public his extreme kindness, if he would allow 
his name to be mentioned in his writings. 

Oh ! if thou wouldst but permit thy name to be placed in my 
verse, how often wouldst thou be inserted there ! Remembering 
thy deserts, I would sing of thee alone ; and in my books not 
a page should swell without thee. It should be known 
throughout all the City, how much I am indebted to thee : if 
indeed, an exile, my works are read in the City now lost to me . 
The present age should know of this kindness, a future age 
should know it ; if only my writings shall reach an age of 
antiquity. The learned reader should not fail to extol thee : 
this honour should await thee, for being the preserver of the 
poet. The chief gift is that of Caesar, that I breathe the air ; 
next'after the great God, thanks must be given to thee. 'Twas 
he that granted me life ; of that which he granted, thou art the 
protector ; and thou causest me to be able to enjoy the gif 
which I have received from him. 

While the greater part of my acquaintances were dismayed 

14 After my former one.] — Ver. 38. His first prayer is, that he may 
return to his country : his next wish is, that exile for a graver offence may 
be the lot of his enemy. 



360 THE TEISTIA ; [b. v. 

at my calamities, and some, too, wished to be thought to be hor- 
rified, and from a lofty hill looked down upon my shipwreck, 
and yet extended no hand to me, as I swam through the surging 
waters ; thou wast the only one to recall me, half dead, from 
the Stygian waves. This, too, is thine, that I have the power 
to be grateful. May the Gods, together with Csesar, ever shew 
themselves friendly to thee : my prayers cannot extend further. 
My care, if thou wouldst permit, would insert these things in 
my ingenious books, to be seen in the broad light of day. 
Even now, my Muse, although she has been bid to keep 
silence, scarcely restrains herself from naming thee, thus un- 
willing. And as the strong leash with difficulty withholds the 
struggling hound, when he has found the traces of the deer ; 
and just as the high-mettled steed, now with his foot, now with 
his forehead, beats at the doors of the starting-place, not yet 
opened, 15 so does my Muse, bound and restrained by the in- 
junction imposed on her, desire to recount the praises of this 
name, forbidden to he uttered. But that thou mayst not receive 
injury from the affection of a grateful friend, cease to fear, 
I will obey thy commands. But yet I would not obey, didst 
thou not believe that I keep in memory thy kindness. I will 
be grateful*, a thing which thy words do not forbid. And 
while I shall look on the light of the sun, (a short time may 
it be !) this spirit will be devoted to thy service. 



ELEGY X. 

The Poet says, that the three years which he has passed in Pontus, have 
appeared to him to be ten, from the wretched nature of the place, which 
he then proceeds to describe. 

Sifce I have been in Pontus, thrice has the Ister frozen 
and thrice has the wave of the Euxine sea become hardened. 
But, to myself, I seem now to have been absent from my coun- 
try as many years as Dardanian Troy was exposed to the 
Grecian foe. The time passes so slowly, you would think it to be 

15 Not yet opened, r] — Ver. 29. The ' carceres ' were vaults at the end 
of the race-course, closed by gates of open wood-work, which, on the 
signal being given, were simultaneously opened by the aid of men and 
ropes, and the chariots came forth, ready for starting. The number of 
* carceres ; on a course are supposed to have varied from eight to twelve. 



E. x.j OK, LAMENT OF OYIT). 361 

standing still ; and with but slow steps the year performs its 
course. The summer solstice diminishes not my nights, and 
midwinter does not make my days shorter. In good truth, the 
nature of things, in my case, has become quite altered, and 
renders every thing protracted along with my woes. Do the 
usual periods really perform their wonted courses, and is it 
rather that this period of my life is unendurable ? Me, whom 
the shores confine, false in their name of Euxine, and the land 
of the Scythian, near the Scythian seas, truly sinister in name 
and in character. 

Innumerable tribes around are threatening cruel warfare ; 
tribes which deem it a disgrace not to live by rapine. Out- 
side, nothing is safe ; the hill is but poorly defended by 
small fortifications, and the resources of the place. When 
you would least expect it, the enemy, in a dense mass, like 
birds, is flying down upon you, and, before he is well 
seen, is driving off his prey. Often do we pick up in the 
midst of the streets their dangerous arrows, that have come 
within the fortifications, when the gates have been shut. 
There are few, therefore, that dare to live out in the country ; 
and they, wretched people, plough with one hand, and hold 
their arms with the other. Covered with a helmet, the shepherd 
plays on his oaten pipe, joined with pitch ; and, instead of the 
wolf, the timid sheep are in dread of war. By the aid of the 
citadel, we are hardly defended ; and even within, a multitude 
of the barbarians, mixed with the Greeks, causes apprehension. 
It is, because the barbarians live together with us, no distinction 
being made ; and they occupy the greater portion of the houses. 
Even if you did not fear them, you would be disgusted, on 
seeing their foreheads covered with skins and long hair. 
Even those, who are supposed to derive their origin from the 
Grecian city, the Persian trowsers cover, instead of the dress 
of their country. They enjoy the intercourse of a common 
language ; by gestures, anything must be signified to me. 
Here it is I who am the barbarian, because by no one am I 
understood ; the stupid Getse laugh at Latin words. Many 
a time, before my face, do they speak ill of me in safety, 
and perhaps are reproaching me with my banishment ; and as 
often as by signs I assent or dissent when they are speak- 
ing, just as it happens, they always suppose something to my 
disadvantage. 16 Besides, iniquitous retaliation is dealt with 
16 To my disadvantage.]— Ver. 42. He seems to imply, that whether 



362 the teistia; [b. v. 

the cruel sword, and wounds are often inflicted in the middle of 
the court of justice. Oh, cruel Lachesis, who hast not given 
a shorter thread of life to one who has a star so disastrous. 

I lament, my friends, both that I am deprived of the light of 
my country and of yourselves, and that I am here, in the 
Scythian land. Either is a heavy punishment : yet I de- 
served to be expelled from the City ; though, perhaps, I did 
not deserve to be in such a place. Ah ! what, in my madness, 
am I saying ? I deserved to lose even my life, when I offended 
the majesty of Ceesar, 



ELEGY XL 

He laments that his wife has been reproached and insulted, as being 
the wife of an exile. He exhorts her to endure her misfortunes with 
patience ; and says, that Augustus did not pronounce him an exile, but 
only ordered his withdrawal from his native country. 

Yottr letter made the complaint that some fellow reproach- 
fully called you the wife of an exile. I was grieved at it ; not 
so much because my fate received blame, as I have now accus- 
tomed myself to bear my misery with fortitude ; as because I 
am a source of disgrace to one to whom I would far from wish 
to be so, and because I think that you have felt ashamed at 
my misfortunes. Bear up and endure it ; you endured a much 
greater misfortune, when the anger of the Prince snatched me 
away from you. 

Yet he is deceived, in whose allegations I am called 
an exile. A milder punishment was the consequence of my 
fault. My greatest punishment is, that I gave offence to the 
Prince himself : and I would prefer that the hour of my death 
had come before that. Yet my ship w T as shattered, not wrecked 
or sunk ; and although she is not in harbour, yet she still 
keeps above water. He has not deprived me of life or pro- 
perty, or the rights of a citizen ; all which I deserved to lose, 
through my fault. But, because crime was not added to that 
error of mine, he gave no order, but that I should leave the 
home of my fathers. And as it is to others, whose numbers 
cannot be counted, so was the might of Caesar lenient towards 
me. He himself, in my case, uses the title of "one removed," 
not of " an exile " my case is established by the words of its 
own judge. 

he assents or dissents, they are always suspicious of his motives, and are 
determined never to put a just and fair construction on his words. 



e. xi.] OK, LAMENT OF OYID. 363 

With justice, then, do my verses, Csesar, such as they are, 
celebrate thy praises, with all my energies. Justly do I entreat 
the Gods still to keep the threshold of heaven closed against 
thee, and to desire thee to be a God, but not in their com- 
pany. 17 The public desires the same thing ; but just as the 
rivers, so the stream of the little brook is wont to run into the 
vast ocean. 

And do thou, by whose lips I am styled an exile, cease to 
aggravate my lot, by the imposition of a false name. 



ELEGY XIL 

The Poet answers a friend, that had exhorted him to compose a fresh 
work, and he gives his reasons for not doing so. He confesses that he 
cannot restrain himself from composing something at times, but he says 
that he makes it a practice to burn his compositions. 

Thotj writest, that I ought to while away my wretched hours 
in study, that my talents may not decay in disgraceful 
sloth. What thou advisest, my friend, is a difficult matter, 
because versifying is a cheerful occupation, and requires to 
have the mind at ease. My fortunes are buffeted, by adverse 
storms ; and no lot can be more sad than my own. Thou art 
requiring that Priam should be merry on the death of his chil- 
dren, and that the bereft Niobe should lead the festive dance. 
Whether does it appear that I ought to be engaged in weeping 
or in study, thus ordered to go in solitude among the most dis- 
tant Getae ? Even if thou shouldst give me a breast supported 
by stout courage, such as Fame says there was in him accused 
by Anytus ; 18 even then, would wisdom lie prostrate, crushed 
under the weight of so great a downfall. The anger of a God 
is too strong for human endurance. The old man that was called 
wise by Apollo, would have been able to write no works under 
such a calamity. Although forgetfulness of my country should 
come on me, forgetfulness of yourselves should come, although 
every recollection of my offence should be able to depart ; still 

17 Not in their company.'] — Ver. 26. That is to say, may they leave 
you on earth, to enjoy your honours as a God, and not receive you in the 
skies till a period far distant hence. 

18 Anytus.] — Ver. 12. Anytus, Melitus, and Lycon, were the accusers 
of Socrates, the greatest of the ancient philosophers. By the oracle of 
Apollo, he was pronounced to be the wisest of men. 



364 THE TEISTIi ; [b. v. 

does very fear forbid me to perform a duty that needs tran- 
quillity. A place confines me, girt around by foes innumer- 
able. Besides, my invention is grown dull, injured by 
long-continued rust ; and it is far smaller than it once was. 
The fertile field, if it is not renewed by the constant plough, 
will contain nothing but grass and thorns. The steed, which 
has been long standing in the stable, will run badly, and will 
be the last among the horses issuing from the starting-place. If 
any bark has been for a long time out of the accustomed 
water, it becomes changed to crumbling rottenness, and gapes 
wide with leaks. I despair that I, too, humble though I was 
even before, can become equal to what I formerly was. The 
lengthened endurance of fatigues has crushed my powers, and 
a large portion of my former vigour is lost. Yet many a time, 
as now, has the writing- tablet been taken up by me ; and I 
have essayed to arrange the words in their proper feet : either 
no verses have been composed by me, or such as thou seeest; wor- 
thy of the circumstances of their master, worthy of the locality. 
Lastly, fame gives no little energy to the mind, and the love 
of praise renders the genius prolific. Formerly, I was attracted 
by the splendour of praise and celebrity, while yet a favouring 
breeze bore on my sail yards. Things go not now so well with 
me, for glory to be a care to me ; if it be allowed me, I wish to 
be known to no one. 

Dost thou persuade me to write, that because my verses 
have before turned out so well, 19 I should follow up my suc- 
cesses ? With your leave, may I be allowed to say it, ye Nine 
Sisters, you are the principal cause of my banishment ; and as 
the designer of the brazen bull paid the just penalty, so do 
I myself pay the penalty of my own pursuits. 

Nothing more ought I to have to do with verses ; but, 
when shipwrecked, I ought, by rights, to avoid all parts of 
the ocean. But, no doubt, if, in my madness, I should try again 
my fatal pursuits, this place will afford 20 me opportunities for 
making my verses. Here, there are no books, no person to give 
me his attention, or to know what is the meaning of my words. 
Every spot is full of barbarism and of a savage jargon ; all 

19 Turned out so well."] — Ver. 43. He says this ironically, implying 
that his poetical pursuits had turned out anything but to his advantage. 

20 This place will afford.'] — Ver. 52. This is also said ironically, as in 
the next line he says that there is nothing there to encourage him to con- 
tinue his poetical labours. 



E. xii.] OK, LAMENT OF OTID. 365 

things are filled with the misery of the Getic babble. I seem 
to myself by this to have forgot my Latin ; I have now learned 
to speak the Getic and the Sarmatian languages. 

Nor yet, to confess the truth to thee, can my Muse be restrained 
from composing poetry. I write, and I burn my books when 
they are written : a little ashes are the result of my labour. I 
cannot, and I do not wish to compose any more verses ; for that 
reason, are my labours thrown in the fire. No produce of my 
invention has come among you, unless snatched from the 
flames by chance, or by stealth. And so do I wish that my 
Art of Love had been turned to ashes, which ruined its master, 
when he apprehended no such a calamity. 



ELEGY XIII. 

He exhorts his friend, as he has given him many proofs of his affection, 
not to deny him the pleasure of his letters. He says, that if he will 
only comply with this request, he will leave nothing that can possibly 
be demanded of his friendship. 

Health does thy Naso send thee from the Getic shore, if any 
one can send the thing which he himself is in want of. For 
I, in ill health, have contracted an infection from my mind in 
my body, that no part of me may be free and undisturbed by 
pain. For many days I have been tormented with pains in my 
side, which, as well, the winter injured with its immoderate cold. 
But yet, if thou art well, then, in some degree, I am well : 
because it was by thy shoulders that my downfall was upheld. 
Since thou hast afforded me these large pledges of affection, 
and since, through all vicissitudes, thou defendest this person 
of mine ; thou dost wrong, in that thy letters console me but 
so seldom : and thou performest the duties of affection, I own, 
unless thou refusest me thy correspondence. Correct this, 
I pray; shouldst thou correct this only, there will be no 
blemish in thy faultless person. I would accuse thee more at 
length ; might it not happen, perchance, that the letter did 
not reach me, and yet that it might have been sent. May 
the Gods grant, that my complaint is groundless, and that I 
wrongly supposed that thou didst not remember me. It is 
clear that that is the fact, which I pray : for it is not possible 



366 THE TEISTIA; [b. v. 

for me to believe that the strength of thy mind is liable to 
change. Let the white wormwood first be wanting in the 
freezing Pontus, and let Trinacrian Hybla 21 be without its 
sweet thyme, before any one can prove that thou art forgetful 
of thy friend. The'threads of my destiny are not so black as that. 

But do thou, that thou mayst also be enabled to repel 
the charge of a fault wrongfully alleged, take care lest thou 
appear to be what thou art not. And as we were wont to spend 
much of our time in conversation, the day not sufficing for our 
discourse ; so let our letters carry to and fro our silent words ; 
and let the paper perform the duty of our tongues. 

And that I may not appear too distrustful that this shall 
come to pass, and that it may suffice to have put thee in 
mind in a few lines, receive that word with which a letter 
ever closes, and a wish that thy lot may be different from mine. 
Farewell. 



ELEGY XIV. 

He promises his wife immortality in his writings, and tells her that 
there are many who, though they may deem her wretched, will still 

, consider her fortunate, and envy her lot. He exhorts her to remain 
constant to him, and to give no room for aspersions on her fidelity. He 
shows, hy citing examples, that constancy of wives to their husbands 
has been considered a marked theme for praise in all ages, and among 
all nations. 

wiee, dearer to me than myself, you yourself behold what 
lasting fame my books have conferred on you. Fortune will 
be at liberty to detract much from the author, but by my 
talents you will become illustrious. So long as my works 
shall be read, together will your praises be read : and you 
cannot entirely cease to exist at the mournful pile. And though 
you may appear deserving of compassion, on account of the 
downfall of your husband, some you will find, to wish to be 
what you are ; to call you happy, and to envy you, although 
you share my miseries. In giving you riches, I could not have 
given you more ; the ghost of the rich man will take nothing 

21 Trinacrian Hybla. .] — Ver. 22. Hybla was a mountain of Trinacria, 
or Sicily. It was famous for its bees, whose honey was rendered of the 
finest quality by the wild thyme with which its sides were covered, ^ 



E. xiv.] OR, LAMENT OE OYID. 367 

to the shades below. 1 have presented you with the gift of a 
lasting name, and you have that, than which I could have pre- 
sented you with nothing greater. 

Besides, as you are the sole guardian of my property, to you 
falls no slight amount of honour. Inasmuch as my voice is 
never silent about you, you ought to be proud, too, of the 
good opinion of your husband. 

Be it your care, that no one may say that it is rashly pro- 
nounced : and regard both me and your own constant fidelity. 
For your merit, while I was fortunate, remained without any 
evil charge, and, unblamed, received the praises of all ; it has 
not been unequal to itself in this my term of calamity. Here 
may your virtues erect a glorious fabric. 

"lis easy to be virtuous, when that which may forbid virtue, 
is afar off; and when a wife has nothing to obstruct her in the 
'path of duty. When the God has sent his thunders, not to hide 
one's self from the storm, that is affection, that is conjugal love. 
Eare, indeed, is that virtue, which Fortune does not influence ; 
which stands with a firm foot, when she flies. But if any virtue 
was ever the reward of its own deserts 22 sought by it, and 
showed itself erect in disastrous circumstances ; though 
you should reckon the occasions, yet it is forgotten in no lapse 
of ages, and all places admire it, wherever the surface of the 
earth extends. 

Do you observe how the fidelity of Penelope has re- 
mained, a subject of praise, an immortal name for length- 
ened ages ? Do you see how the wives of Admetus, and of 
Hector, are celebrated in song, and how the daughter of Iphis 23 
dared to ascend the lighted pile ? How, too, the wife, she of 
Phylax, 24 lives in fame, whose husband with active foot trod on 

22 Reward of its own merits.'] — Ver. 31, 32. This seems to approxi- 
mate, probably, to the sense intended to be conveyed by these lines ; but 
the reading is so corrupt and confused, that it can hardly be said for cer- 
tain, whether he is speaking of a virtue, or of a woman, or what he really 
intends to say. 

23 Daughter of Iphis."] — Ver. 38. This was Evadne, the wife of Capa- 
neus, who, in her excess of grief, threw herself on the funeral pile of her 
husband. 

24 She of Phylax.] — Ver. 39. Laodamia, the wife of Protesilaus, is here 
alluded to. Phylax was a town of Phthiotis, in Thessaly, of which Prote- 
silaus was the king, Phylax was also the name of the father of Iphiclus, 
who was the father of Protesilaus. Laodamia refused to live any longer, 
on hearing of the death of her husband, who was killed immediately on his 
landing on the Trojan shore- 



368 THE TEISTIA ; OE, LAMENT OE OVID, [b. v. 

the Trojan soil. I require not Death, but love and constancy. 
Fame is not to be sought by you by an arduous path. But 
do not suppose that I recommend these things to your notice, 
because you do them not ; I hoist my sails, although the ship 
speeds on with its oars. He who exhorts you to do, what 
you are already doing, praises you by his exhortations, and by 
his advice shows his approval of your actions. 



EIST} OE THE TEISTIA. 



THE 



PONTIC EPISTLES OE OVID. 



BOOK THE FIRST. 



EPISTLE I.— TO BRUTUS. 

He entreats his friend Brutus to give his books a kind reception, especially 
as his works share his disgrace ; and he then states what forms the 
subject of his Pontic Epistles. 

Naso, now become an old inhabitant of the region of Tomi, 
sends thee this work from the Getic shores. If thou hast 
leisure, Brutus, receive with hospitality these little hooks, 
coming from afar, and put them in any place thou mayst 
please, so that it be some place. They dare not approach the 
public buildings, lest their author should have already closed 
the path against them in that direction . Ah ! how often have I 
said, "assuredly ye teach no bad precepts; go on your way; that 
spot is open for verses that are pure." And yet they go not ; but, 
as thou seeest, they think it safer to lie concealed, in a private 
abode. Dost thou enquire where thou mayst place them, no 
one being offended? That spot is vacant for thee, where the 
Arts of Love used to stand. Perhaps thou mayst ask, on this 
their sudden arrival, why they have come ? Receive them, 
whatever the reason is, so that it is not Love. Thou wilt find, 
although its title is not redolent of woe, that this work is not 
less sorrowful than the one I produced before. They are 
similar in subject, but there is a difference in the title, and each 
letter shows to whom it is sent, the name no longer being 
concealed. You, my friends, do not desire this, but you are not 
able to prevent it ; and the dutiful Muse approaches those who 

13 B 



3/0 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. I. 

are unwilling to receive her. However that is, add these lines 
to my works. There is nothing to hinder the progeny of an 
exile from enjoying a life in the City, if they observe the laws. 
There is no reason for fear. The writings of even Antonius are 
read, and the learned Brutus 1 publicly occupies the book-case. 
I am not so insane as to compare myself with names so great ; 
but yet I never bore blood-stained arms against the Deities. 
In fine, not one of my books fails to do honour to Ceesar, 
although he wishes it not. Shouldst thou hesitate as to me; ad- 
mit the panegyrics of the Divinities, and receive my poem, omit- 
ting my name. The branch of the peaceful olive has its influence 
in warfare ; will it avail my books nothing, to mention the very 
Founder of Peace ? When the neck of JEneas was placed 
beneath his parent, the flame itself is said to have made a way 
for the hero. This book bears the name of the descendant of 
iEneas; and shall not every path be open to it? The latter, too, 
is the Father of his country ; the former was the father of 
JEneas himself only. Who is there so rash, that he would 
compel him that shakes the tinkling sistrum of Pharos 2 to 
depart from his threshold ? When the piper is playing on the 
crooked horn, before the Mother of the Gods, who can refuse 
the brass pieces of trifling coin 1 We know that no such 
thing as this is done by the order of Diana ; yet the soothsayer 
has thence the means of making a livelihood. The heavenly in- 
fluence of the Gods above acts upon our feelings ; and it is no 
disgrace to be beguiled into such a belief. Behold ! instead 

1 The learned Brutus.] — Ver. 24. Brutus, who was one of the mur- 
derers of Julius Caesar, was a man of great genius and learning. He wrote 
a work ' On Virtue,' which has been praised by Cicero, Seneca, and 
Plutarch. He was also the author of some poems, some of which, how- 
ever, according to Pliny the Younger, were of a very loose character. 

2 Sistrum of Pharos.] — Ver. 38. The 'sistrum' was a mystical 
musical instrument, used by the ancient Egyptians (whence the present 
epithet ' Pharia') in their ceremonies, and especially in the worship of Isis. 
It was shaken with the hand, and emitted a tinkling sound. Plutarch tells 
us that the shaking of its four cross bars was supposed to represent the 
agitation of the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water ; and that the cat, 
which was usually sculptured at the end of it, represented the moon. 
Apuleius says that these instruments were sometimes made of silver, and 
even of gold. The ' sistrum' was introduced into Italy, with the worship 
of Isis, shortly before the Christian era. It is used in Nubia and Abys- 
sinia at the present day. The word is sometimes used by Latin authors, to 
denote simply ' a child's rattle.' 



E. I.] OP OYID. 371 

of the sistrum, and the pierced holes of the Phrygian box- 
wood, I bear the sacred names of the family of Ii'ilus. I both 
prophecy, and I instruct ; make way for him that bears the 
sacred things ; not for myself, but for the great God, it is 
asked. But do not suppose that, either because I have de- 
served, or have experienced the anger of the Prince, he is un- 
willing that he should be worshipped by me. I have beheld 
one who confessed that he had offended the Divinity of Isis, 
clothed in linen, 3 sitting before the altars of Isis ; another, de- 
prived of his sight for a fault like his, was crying, in the 
middle of the road, that he had deserved it. The inhabitants 
of heaven rejoice that such public declarations are made, that 
they may prove by testimony how great is the extent of their 
power. Often do they mitigate the punishment, and restore the 
sight that kas been taken away, when they see that a man has 
truly repented of his error. Great, oh! great is my penitence (if 
credence can be given to any of the wretched) ; and I am agonized 
by my fault ! Though my exile afflicts me, my error afflicts 
me still more ; and to endure punishment is less grievous than 
to have been deserving of it. Even should the Gods, among 
whom Augustus himself is most conspicuous, show favour to me, 
the punishment, indeed, may be removed, but the fault will 
last for ever. Death, assuredly, will cause me to be no longer 
an exile, when it shall have come ; but death will not, as 
well, make me not to have committed a sin. It is not, 
then, to be wondered at, if my mind, wasting away, melts like 
the water that trickles from the snow. It is consumed, like 
a ship infected with the hidden wood-worm ; and as the wave 
of the salt sea hollows out the rocks ; as the iron, when thrown 
by, is corroded by the scaly rust ; as the book that has been 
shut up is gnawed by the bite of the moth ; so does my heart 
feel the eternal remorse of its cares, to be everlastingly affected 
thereby. These stings will not leave my mind sooner than my 
life ; and he that grieves, will cease to exist, before his grief 
will cease. 

If the Gods above, in whose power all things are, believe me 
in this, perhaps I shall be deemed worthy of a little favour ; and 
I shall be transferred to a spot, free from the Scythian bow. 
Of shameless face should I be, if I prayed for more than that. 

3 Clothed in linen.'] — Ver. 51. Tsis is thus called, as it was requisite that, 
in her worship, her priests and devotees should be arrayed in linen garments. 

bb2 



3/2 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. 



EPISTLE II.— TO MAXIMUS. 

He commences by extolling the family of Fabius ; and he beseeches his 
attention, while he is making his request. He then laments his cruel 
fate, and sets forth his numerous woes, his dangers from the enemy, the 
natives of the country, and the effect which his misfortunes have pro- 
duced on his mind and body. He says that he trusts in the clemency 
of Caesar for a change in the place of his exile ; and he entreats Maximus 
to make this request alone of Augustus in his favour. 

Maximus, thou who fillest the measure of a name so great, 4 
and dost amplify thy descent hy the nobleness of thy mind ; 
that thou, especially mightst be born, although three hun- 
dred fell, yet one day did not carry off all the Fabii. Per- 
haps thou mayst ask, by whom this letter is sent; and thou mayst 
wish to be informed, who it is that is addressing^hee. Ah 
me ! what shall I do ? I fear, lest, when thou shalt read my 
name, thou mayst read the rest, unfavourably disposed and 
with alienated feelings. If any one shall see this ; I will dare 
to confess that I have written to thee, and that I have la- 
mented over my own woes. Let him see it, I will dare to 
confess that I have written to thee, and to publish the extent 
of my transgression. And, though I acknowledge that I de- 
serve a greater punishment, I can scarcely have to endure a 
penalty more weighty. 

I live in the midst of foes, and among dangers ; as though, 
together with my country, peace had been torn away from me : 
These foes, that they may effect a twofold cause for death in 
the cruel wound, dip all their darts in the venom of the viper. 
Provided with these, the horseman surveys the fortifications, 
just like a wolf prowling round the sheep in their fold. Their 
light bow, when once stretched with the horse-hair cord, 
always remains with its string unrelaxed. The houses bristle 
as though pallisaded with the arrows fixed there, and the gate, 
with its strong lock, is hardly able to keep out the warfare. 
Add too, the appearance of the place, gladdened with neither 

4 A name so great."] — Ver. 1. This may allude either to the other 
name of Maximus, which was Fabius, the cognomen of one of the most 
illustrious of the Roman families, and of which he was a member ; or it 
may bear reference to the literal meaning of the name ' Maximus,' which 
signifies ' the greatest ;' whereby the poet intends to compliment him on the 
possession of each virtue in the highest degree. 



II.] 



OE OVID. 



leaves nor trees; and the fact, that one sluggish winter is ever 
joined to another. Here is a fourth winter, wearing me out, as 
I struggle against the cold, and the arrows, and my destiny. 
My tears are without an end, except when senselessness has 
checked them; and a torpor like death takes possession of my 
heart. Happy was Niobe, though she beheld the deaths of so 
many, when, changed into stone, she lost all sense of her mis- 
fortunes ! Happy too, were ye, whose mouths, when calling on 
your brother, the poplar covered 5 with its new-made bark ! I 
am one, who can be turned into no wood ; I am one, who in 
vain desire to become a stone. Even if Medusa herself were 
to come before my eyes, yet would even Medusa lose her 
power. 

I live, so as never to be free from a feeling of sadness : and 
by length of time my punishment becomes more severe. So, 
•the liver of Tityus, unconsumed and ever growing again, 
wastes not, that it may be devoured many times over. 

But, I suppose, 6 when rest comes, and sleep, the universal 

r j remedy for care, the night passes, free from the usual woes. 

< Visions then alarm me, that pourtray my real misfortunes, and 

i my senses are ever awake to my sorrows. Either, I seem to be 

flying from the Sarmatian arrows, or to be placing my cap- 

v tive hands in the cruel fetters ; or, when I am beguiled by the 

outline of a happier dream, I behold the lost home of my 

native land : and at one time, I am conversing at length with 

you, my friends, whom I esteemed, at another, with my dear 

\ wife. And thus, when a short-lived and imaginary pleasure has 

-, been experienced, this state of mine becomes worse, from the 

^ very recollection of happiness. Whether, therefore, the day 

looks upon wretched me, or whether the horses of the frosty 

night are urged on ; my heart melts away with everlasting 

cares, just as new wax is wont to do, on the application of fire. 

-' Often do I pray for death, often too, do I avert it by prayer, 

.; V in order that the Sarmatian soil may not cover my bones. 

Y/hen it occurs to me how great is the clemency of Augustus, 

i I trust that a share of repose may be granted to my shipwreck. 

- 

5 The poplar covered."] — Ver. 34. The sisters of Phaeton are fabled, 
after his death, to have pined away with grief, and to' have* been changed 
into poplars, or, according to Virgil, into aiders. 

6 But, I suppose."] — Yer. 43. This is said ironically, and is supposed 
to be uttered by some one who is expostulating with him. 



374 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. I. 

When I see how obdurate is my destiny, I despair ; and fleet- 
ing hope fails, overcome by great alarm. And yet I neither 
hope nor pray for any thing more, than that I may leave this 
country, even if changed for a worse. Either it is this, or 
nothing, that thy credit at Court may with propriety endea- 
vour to obtain forme, without compromising thy moderation, 
Maximus, thou embodied eloquence of the Roman language, 
undertake the kind defence of a difficult case. 'Tis a bad one, 
I confess ; but, thou being my defender, it shall become a 
good one. Only do utter soothing words, on account of my 
wretched exile ; for Caesar does not know, although a God 
knows every thing, in what state is this remote region. The 
weighty avocations of business occupy that Divinity : this 
care is too trifling for a heaven-born mind. He has no leisure 
to inquire in what region the people of Tomi are situate, a 
spot scarce known to the neighbouring Getse ; or what the 
Sauromatse are doing, or what the savage lazyges, and theTauric 
land, beloved by the Goddess carried off by Orestes : or what 
other nations, when the Danube has frozen, pass on their 
swift horses over the hardened surface of the river. The 
greatest part of these men care not for thee, most beauteous 
Rome, and fear not the arms of the Ausonian soldiers. Their 
bows, their full quivers, and their horses, equal to the longest 
distances, give them courage ; the fact too, that they have 
long learned to endure thirst and hunger ; and that the enemy 
that follows will be deprived of water. The anger of the 
merciful Deity would not have sent me to that spot, if these 
things had been sufficiently known to him. It delights him 
not that I, or that any Roman, should be destroyed by the 
enemy ; and me, to whom he himself has granted life, the 
least of all. He was unwilling, though he had the power, to 
injure me with the slightest nod ; there is no need of any 
Getse for the purpose of my death. 

Besides, he has found that I have done nothing why I should 
suffer death; and he may be less hostile against me than he has 
been. He has done nothing, too, but what I myself have forced 
him to do ; his anger has even been almost more moderate than 
my offence. May the Gods therefore, of whom he is the most 
merciful, grant that the genial earth may produce nothing 
greater than Csesar; that long in his charge may be the 
public burden of the State ; and that, descending, it may 



K. ii.] OF OVID. 375 

pass into the hands of that family. But, clo thou, open thy 
lips in behalf of my tears before a judge so lenient, as even I 
have experienced him to be. Make no request that it may go 
well with me, but that my woes may continue in a place of 
safety ; that my exile may be spent at a distance from a cruel 
enemy; and that the life which the favouring Deities have 
granted me, the disgusting Getan may not deprive me of, with 
his drawn sword. Lastly, that if I die, my bones may be 
laid in a more peaceful spot, and may not be covered with 
Scythian soil ; that the hoof of the Bistonian horse may 
not crush my ashes half unburied (as, forsooth, befits an 
exile) ; and that if, after death, there is any perception, no 
Sarmatian ghost may alarm my shade. These things, Maxi- 
mus, when heard, could affect the feelings of Caesar ; if first 
they could influence thine. Let thy voice, I entreat thee, 
which is wont to aid the trembling accused, soothe the ears of 
Augustus in my behalf : and do thou, with the wonted bland- 
ness of thy learned tongue, soften the heart of him who is to 
be reckoned equal with the Gods. Neither Theromedon, 7 nor 
cruel Atreus, 8 will have to be entreated by thee, nor he that 
made human beings food for his mares ; <J but a Prince, slow 
to punish, quick to reward, and who grieves, as often as he is 
forced to be severe : one who ever conquers, that he may spare 
the conquered, and who has shut up civil warfare with ever- 
lasting locks. One who prevents many a crime by the dread of 
punishment, but few by punishment itself; and who hurls but 
few bolts, and those with a repugnant hand. Therefore, sent 
as my pleader before ears so lenient, do thou entreat that the 
place of my banishment may be nearer to my country. I am 
one, who held thee in esteem, and whom the festive table used 
to see among thy guests. I am he who led Hymenseus before 
thy marriage torches, and repeated verses 10 worthy of a happy 

7 Theromedon.'] — Ver. 121. He was a cruel king of Scythia, who fed 
his lions upon human bodies. 

8 Cruel Atreus. ,] — Ver. 121. He killed the children of Thyestes, and 
served them up to him at a banquet. Reference has been previously made 
to this fable. 

9 Food for his mares.'] — Ver. 122. He alludes to Diomedes, the 
barbarous king of Thrace, who fed his mares upon the bodies of strangers 
found within his kingdom. He was slain by Hercules, who caused him to 
be eaten by his mares. 

10 And repeated verses.]— Ver. 134. He means by this, that he wrote the 



376 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. i. 

union ; whose works, as I remember, thou wast wont to praise, 
with the exception of those that brought ruin on their master ; 
and to whom, admiring them, thou wast wont sometimes to 
read thy writings. I am he, to whom a bride was given, from 
out of thy family. Martia esteems her, and from her earliest 
youth has always reckoned her, much beloved, in the number of 
her companions. Formerly, the maternal aunt of Caesar had her 
among her own companions ; if a person is to be esteemed 
according to their opinion, she is virtuous. Claudia, 11 her- 
self superior to her own character, would not have stood in 
need of the Divine aid, had they praised her. I, too, spent 
my former years without a stain : the last portion of my life 
must be omitted. But, to keep silence about myself, my wife 
is thy charge ; without impeachment of thy honour, thou canst 
not treat her with neglect, To thy family she flies for aid: 
your altars does she embrace. Every one, properly, resorts to 
the Gods that have been worshipped by him : and, weeping, 
she entreats that, Caesar once appeased by thy supplications, 
the tomb of her husband may be nearer to his country. 



EPISTLE III.— TO RUFINUS. 

Ovid declares that he has received much pleasure from his friend's 
letters ; and that he has conceived fresh hopes since he has read them ; 
but he says, that, consoling as they are, they cannot dispel his grief ; and 
he gives his reasons for saying so. He recounts the instances of those 
who have endured exile with fortitude ; but he says they did so, because 
they were not removed far from their native land. He confesses, how- 
ever, that if the wounds of his spirit were capable of being healed, it 
would be by his friend's kind advice and eloquent language ; and de- 
clares that he considers his kind attentions as a great boon. 

Tky friend Naso, Hufinus, sends thee this salutation ; if he, 
who is in misery, can be owned as the friend of any one. The 
consolation that has been lately given by thee to my disturbed 
spirit, has afforded both aid and hope, amid my woes. As 

Epithalamium, or nuptial song, on the occasion of the marriage of Maximus. 
The name of Hymenaeus, the God of Marriage, is here used to signify the 
Epithalamium. 

11 Claudia.'] — Ver. 144. This is the Vestal virgin, whose miraculous 
deliverance from the imputation of unchastity is recounted at length in 
the fourth Book of the ' Fasti.' 



E. III.] OE OYID. 377 

the hero, the son of Paeas, through the skill of Machaon expe- 
rienced the aid of medicine in the cure of his wound ; so I, 
prostrate in mind, and wounded with a cruel blow, began, at 
thy exhortation, to take courage. And when now failing, I 
revived at thy words, as the pulse is wont to return on wine 
being administered. 12 But yet thy eloquence did not put forth 
powers so great, that my heart was entirely healed by thy 
words. However much thou mayst subtract from the floods 
of my cares ; that which will remain, will be no less than that 
which is removed. In length of time, perhaps, the scar will 
be covered over ; wounds, while yet raw, shudder at the ap- 
plication of the hand. It is not always within the physician's 
power, that the invalid should recover : sometimes disease is 
more powerful than the experience of art. Thou seeest, how 
blood discharged from the tender lungs leads by a sure path 
to the Stygian streams. Should even he of Epidaurus himself 
apply the sacred herbs, by no skill of his will he heal the 
wounds of the heart. The medical art is at a loss how to re- 
move the swelling gout, and gives no aid in cases of hydropho- 
bia. Grief, too, is sometimes curable by no skill ; or, even if 
it is, by length of time must it be alleviated. After thy advice 
had strengthened my prostrate spirit, and the armour of thy 
mind had been assumed by me, again did longing for my 
country, more powerful than all reasoning, destroy the work 
which thy writings had formed. Whether thou wouldst have it 
called affectionate or womanish : I confess that the heart of 
wretched me is but tender. The wisdom of him of Ithaca 
is undoubted ; and yet he longed to be able to behold the 
smoke of his paternal hearths. The land of our birth im- 
pels us, influenced by an extraordinary attraction, and allows 
us not to be forgetful of it. What is there better than Rome? 
What is there more intolerable than the Scythian frosts ? Yet, 
hither does the barbarian flee from that City. Although the 
daughter of Pandion 13 is safe, when shut in a cage ; yet she 
struggles to regain her woods. The oxen seek their wonted 
pastures, the lions their wonted caves, and their fierceness 

12 Being administered,'] — Ver. 10. * Infuso f literally, 'poured in;' 
meaning, « on wine being poured down the throat.' 

13 Daughter of Pandion.']— Ver. 39. He alludes to Philomela, who 
was changed into a nightingale ; a bird which never becomes reconciled to 
the cruel' confinement of a cage. 



3/8 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. I. 

hinders them not from doing so. And yet thou believest that 
the torments of exile can be removed from my heart by thy 
consolations. Make yourselves to be not so worthy to be 
loved by me, that it may be a lighter misfortune to be de- 
prived of such. 

But, I suppose, now that I am driven from the land of my 
birth, it has still fallen to my lot to be in a place fit for man. 
I lie here, deserted, amid the sands of a far distant region, where 
the hidden earth supports eternal snows. Here the land pro- 
duces neither the pome, nor the sweet grape ; willows flourish 
not on the bank, nor oaks on the mountain. And praise not 
the sea any more than the land : the ocean, deprived of the heat 
of the sun is ever unsettled through the raging of the winds. 
Whichever way you look, plains extend without a cultivator ; 
and vast fields, to which there is no one to lay claim. A foe 
is at hand, to be dreaded, both on the right side and the left ; 
and either direction brings its alarms through fear of our 
neighbours. One side is to be made to feel the Bistonian 
lances ; the other, the javelins hurled by the Sarmatian hand. 
Come now, and recount to me the examples of men of ancient 
times, who have endured misfortunes with fortitude. Admire, 
too, the firmness of the magnanimous Rutilius, 14 who accepted 
not the liberty of returning, that was granted him. Smyrna 
received that heroic man, not Pontus, and the land of an 
enemy ; Smyrna, not less desirable than hardly any other 
place. The Cynic of Sinope 15 did not grieve that he was far 
from his country ; for he chose, land of Attica, thy abodes. 
The son of Neocles, 16 who crushed the Persian arms in warfare, 

14 Rutilius.~\ — Ver. 63. Publius Rutilius was a man of great integrity 
and learning, who having, during his Qusestorship, rectified considerable 
abuses, drew upon himself the enmity of the Equestrian order. Being 
wrongfully accused of malpractices, he was exiled. When Sylla's cause 
was victorious, he had permission to return ; but he declined to live at 
Home, even under a former imputation of dishonesty ; and he spent his 
latter years at Smyrna, in Asia Minor, where he died. 

15 The Cynic of Sinope.l — Ver. 67. Diogenes, the Cynic philosopher, 
w r as the son of Icesius, and was a native of Sinope, a town of Paphlagonia, 
in Asia Minor. Coming to Athens, he became a disciple of Antisthenes, 
the philosopher, who founded the sect of the Cynics These philosophers 
professed to reject the amenities of life, and to live conformably to nature ; 
a doctrine which Diogenes, in some instances, carried to the extent of 
neglecting common decency. 

16 The son of Neocles.]— Ver. 69. Themistocles, the Athenian general, 



e. in.] or ovid. 379 

experienced his first banishment in the city of i^rgos. Aris- 
tides, 17 when driven from his country, fled to Lacedsemon ; 
between the two, it is a matter of doubt which was preferable. 
Patroclus, when a youth, being guilty of homicide, left Opus, 
and arrived in the land of Thessaly, as the guest of Achilles. 
Jason, under whose guidance the sacred bark sped onwards to 
the Colchian waves, went as an exile, from Hsemonia, to the 
spring of Pirene. Cadmus, the son of Agenor, left the walls 
of Sidon, that he might found his city on a preferable site. 
Tydeus came to Adrastus, expelled from Calydon; and the land 
pleasing to Venus 18 received Teucer. Why shall I make 
mention of the forefathers of the Roman race, among whom 
Tybur 19 was the remotest spot for the exile ? Should I detail 
all of them, to no one, in all ages, has a place been assigned 
so far from his country as this, or more dreadful than it. 
Therefore, the more readily should thy wisdom find a pardon for 
me in my sorrow, who profit but so little by thy exhortations. 
And yet I do not deny, that if my wounds were capable of 
closing, they could close under thy advice. But I fear lest 
thou shoulclst strive in vain to save me, and lest, weak 
and past all recovery, I can derive no benefit from the appli- 
cation of thy aid. And I say this, not because I have any 
greater foresight, but because I am better known to myself 
than to my physician. But, though so it is, thy good wishes 
have come as a great boon to me, and are gratefully accepted. 

was the son of Neocles. The Athenians, with their usual ingratitude, un- 
mindful of his great services in withstanding the Persian power, banished 
him several times. On the first occasion of his banishment, he retired to 
Argos. 

17 Aristides.] — Ver. 71. He was an Athenian, the son of Lysimaehus. 
He was the rival of Themistocles, and, for his virtues, received the epithet 
of ' the Just.' Being banished, he fled to Sparta, which being, at that 
time, the rival of Athens, as the poet says, it is doubtful whether he made 
a change for the worse. 

18 Land pleasing to Venus.]— Ver. 80. The island of Cyprus, where 
that Goddess was especially worshipped. Teucer, being expelled after the 
Trojan war, by his father Telamon from his own country, retired to Cyprus, 
and there founded a city, which he called Salamis after his native place. 

19 Tybur.] — Ver. 82. Tybur was eighteen miles from Rome. Of 
course, in the earliest days of Rome, exiles could not be driven away any 
further than its very limited boundaries would admit of. 



380 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. i. 



EPISTLE IV.— TO HIS WIFE. 

He says that his hair has become grey, and his body weak, and that the 
cause is twofold, old age, and incessant grief. He then compares the 
voyage of Jason, who came to that region, with his own exile, and 
shows that his troubles are far greater than those of Jason. He prays 
for a return to his country, to enjoy the society of his wife, and to 

, evince his gratitude to the family of Caesar. 

My declining years are now* besprinkled with grey hairs ; and 
the wrinkle of old age now seams my countenance ; now . 
vigour and strength are growing languid in my exhausted 
frame ; and those amusements which delighted me when a 
a youth, delight me no longer. If you were to behold me on 
a sudden, you would not recognize me, so great has been the 
decline of my age. I confess that length of years causes this ; 
but there is, too, another cause ; anxiety of mind, and eternal 
care. For, were any one to distribute my woes through a 
length of years, (believe me,) I should be older than Nestor 
of Pylos. You see how, in the rugged fields, hard work 
weakens the strong bodies of the oxen ; and w^hat is stronger 
than an ox ? The soil which has never been accustomed to 
rest in the repose of the fallow, wearied with continually pro- 
ducing, grows old. If a horse shall be always engaging in 
the contests of the Circus, without the intermission of any of 
the races, he will die. Although a ship be strong, she will go 
to pieces at sea, if she is never dry, and free from the action of 
the flowing water. An endless series of troubles wears me away, 
too, and, before my time, forces me to be an old man. Repose 
gives nourishment to the body ; the mind, too, is refreshed by 
it : on the other hand, immoderate care consumes them both. 
See, what fame the son of iEson will gain from latest pos- 
terity, because he came to these regions. But his labours were 
both lighter, and less than mine ; if only, illustrious names do 
not smother the truth. He set out for Pontus, being sent by 
Pelias, who was hardly to be dreaded within the limits of 
Thessaly. The wrath of Csesar has caused my afflictions ; 
him, at whom both sides of the earth tremble, from the rising 
of the sun to its setting. Hsemonia is nearer to the baleful 
Pontus than Rome is, and he travelled a less distance than I did. 
He had for his companions, the chief men of the Grecian land ; 
whereas, all deserted me on my banishment. I ploughed the 



E, iv] OF OYTD. 381 

vast ocean on a frail bit of timber ; the ship that bore the 
son of iEson was strong. Tiphys, 20 too, was not my pilot, 
and the son of Agenor did not instruct me what course to fol- 
low, and what to avoid. Royal Juno, with Pallas, protected 
him ; no Divinities have defended my person. The furtive 
arts of Cupid aided him ; arts, which I wish that Love had 
not learned from me. He returned home ; I shall die in these 
lands, if the heavy wrath of the offended God shall be lasting. 
My burden, most faithful wife, is a harder one than that 
which the son of iEson bore. You, too, whom I left still 
young at my departure from the City, I can believe to have 
grown old under my calamities. Oh, grant it, ye Gods, that 
I may be enabled to see you, even if such, and to give the 
joyous kiss on each cheek in its turn ; and to embrace your 
emaciated body in my arms, and to say, " 'twas anxiety, on my 
account, that caused this thinness;" and, weeping, to recount 
in person my sorrows to you in tears, and thus enjoy a con- 
versation that I had never hoped for ; and to offer the due 
frankincense, with grateful hand, to the Csesars, and to the wife 
that is worthy of a Ceesar, Deities in real truth ! 

Oh, that the mother of Memnon, 21 that Prince being softened, 
would with her rosy lips, speedily call forth that day. 



EPISTLE Y.— TO MAXIMUS. 

He requests Maximus not to be surprised, if his verses are neglected and 
repulsive from their want of polish ; but he says, that his mind is so 
overwhelmed by his misfortunes, that his abilities have suffered decay 
in length of time. He then explains why he continues to write, in spite 
of the injury which his verses have done him ; and he tells the reason 
why he is not anxious to make them remarkable for their elegance. 

Naso, once not the last among thy friends, entreats thee, Max- 
imus, to read his words. In these, cease to look for my 
former ability, that thou mayst not seem to be ignorant of my 

£0 Tiphys. ~] — Ver. 37. He was the pilot of the Argo, which conveyed 
Jason and his companions, on their expedition to recover the golden fleece. 
Phineus, the son of Agenor, instructed Jason how to steer clear of the 
Cyanean rocks. 

21 Mother of Memnon. ] — Ver. 57. Aurora was the mother, andTitho- 
nus the father, of Memnon, who, being born in ^Ethiopia, was of a 
swarthy or black colour. He assisted the Trojans in the Trojan war, and 
was killed by Achilles. 



382 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. I. 

exile. Thou seeest how ease enervates the slothful body ; how 
water contracts a taint, if it is not stirred. If ever I had any 
facility in composing verses, it now fails me, and has been di- 
minished by listless sloth. These words too, which ye read, 
(if you will believe me, Maximus), I write, put together with 
difficulty, and with a reluctant hand. It delights me not to 
give the bent of my mind to such pursuits, and the Muse, 
though invited, comes not among the savage Getse. Yet, as 
thou seeest, I struggle to compose a line ; but it is not less 
harsh than is my destiny. When I read it over again, I am 
ashamed that I wrote it : because I see many things that are 
deserving to be erased, even in the opinion of myself who 
have composed them. And yet I correct them not : this were 
a greater labour than to write them, and the mind that is sick, 
is able to endure no hardship. Should I, forsooth, begin to 
use polished language with more attention, and should I re- 
peat every word according to rule ? Does Fortune torment 
me too little, unless the Nile is in confluence with the Hebrus, 
and unless Athos adds his leaves to the Alps ? We must make 
allowance for the mind that bears the wound of sorrow ; let 
the oxen withdraw their galled necks from the burden. 

But I suppose, forsooth, profit is the result, the justest 
stimulant of labour ; and the earth returns the seed sown with 
bounteous interest. Up to this moment (even should you 
review my whole career), no work of mine has been of any 
advantage to me, and I only wish no one of them had done me 
an injury. Dost thou, then, wonder why I write? I wonder 
as well ; and I often ask myself, what I shall get by it. Does 
the multitude say truly, that poets are insane ; and am I the 
greatest illustration of this saying ? I, who, when I have been 
so often deceived in a barren soil, persist in sowing my seed 
in unproductive ground. In truth, each one is attached to 
his own pursuit ; and it is pleasant to spend our time in one's 
usual occupations. The wounded gladiator curses the combat, 
and yet the same man, forgetful of his former wound, resumes 
arms. The shipwrecked person says that he will have nothing 
to do with the waves of the sea ; soon he is plying the oars, in 
the water, in which but just now, he was swimming. So am I 
constantly following a useless pursuit ; and I seek again those 
Goddesses, to whom I wish I had not devoted myself. What 
am I to do in preference ? I am not one to indulge in listless 



E. v.] OF OVID. 383 

sloth : time unemployed is considered death by me. I take 
no pleasure in wearing myself out till dawn, with excess of 
wine ; and alluring games of hazard do not occupy my shaking 
hands. When I have devoted the hours to sleep which the 
body demands, after I am awake, how shall I dispose of the 
long hours ? Forgetting the manners of my country, shall I 
learn to stretch the Sarmatian bow ; and shall I be allured 
by the peculiar art of this place ? My strength too forbids 
me to follow this pursuit ; and my mind is stronger than 
my thin body. When you have well considered what I am to do; 
there is nothing more useful than these pursuits, which have 
no utility. From them I gain forgetfulness of my calamity ; 
if my field yields this for its harvest, it is enough. Glory 
stimulates you, ye poets ; keep your attention fixed on the 
Pierian choirs, that your poems, when recited, may meet with 
approval. It is enough for me to compose anything that oc- 
curs without an effort : and no necessity exists for extreme 
labour. Why should I polish my lines with anxious care ? 
Ought I to fear, lest the Getan should not approve of them ? 
Perhaps I may be acting rashly, in so doing, but T boast that 
the Danube possesses no genius superior to my own. It is 
enough, if in this land, where I must live, I attain to being a 
poet among the savage Getee. Of what use is it to reach dis- 
tant regions by my fame ? Let that place, which Fortune has 
given, be Rome for me, With this for her theatre, is my Muse 
content. This have I deserved ; this have the great Gods 
willed. Besides, I do not think that there is any way hence to 
that spot for my works, a spot, at which Boreas arrives with 
flagging wing. We are in quite a different climate ; and the 
Bear, which is afar from the City of Quirinus, looks down on 
the hairy Getse close at hand. Through so great a tract of 
land, so many seas, I could hardly believe that any exponent 
of my pursuits could make its way. Suppose my works to be 
read, and, what is surprising, suppose they give pleasure : 
assuredly that thing will avail the author nothing. Of what 
use is it to thee, if thou art praised when situate in the hot 
Syene, 22 or where the Indian waves surround Taprobane ? 23 Do 

22 Syene.'] — Ver. 79. Syene was a city of Egypt, on the confines of 
Ethiopia, where the heat would naturally be intense. 

23 Taprobane.~\ — Ver. 80. This was the Roman name of the island, 
which at the present day is called Ceylon. It was but very little known 



384 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [ B . I. 

you wish to go further? If the far distant Constellations 
of the Pleiades please thee, what benefit dost thou derive 
from that? But I do not reach there, with my homely 
writings : with their master, his glory has fled from the City. 
And ye, to whom I have been dead, from the time when my fame 
was entombed, I suppose you have kept a rigid silence upon 
my death up to the present moment. 



EPISTLE VI.— TO GRM3INUS. 

The Poet laments that Grsecinus was not near at the time when he was 
banished by Augustus ; and he expresses a belief that, on hearing of it, 
his friend was much affected by his misfortunes. He entreats him to 
afford him the pleasure of his conversation at least by letter ; and re- 
quests him not to inquire the cause of his exile, that his wounds may 
not bleed afresh. He says that he has not lost all hope of returning ; 
and that he still confides in the clemency of Csesar, and trusts thereby 
to regain his favour. He ends by expecting every impossible thing to 
happen, before he finds himself deserted by his old and attached friend, 
Graecinus. 

Aisn was not thy heart sad, when first thou heardst of my ca- 
lamities ? (for then a distant land withheld thee) . Although, 
Grsecinus, thou shouldst hide it, and hesitate to confess it, if 
I know thee well, I am sure thou wast sad. Unamiable in- 
sensibility does not befit those manners of thine, nor is it less 
at variance with thy pursuits. By the liberal arts, to which 
thou payest the greatest attention, the heart is made tender, 
and harshness is dispelled ; and there is no one who embraces 
them with more sincerity than thyself, so far as duty and the 
avocations of war permit. 

Assuredly, at the first moment that I could be sensible of 
what I was (for, in my stupor, for a long time I had no under- 
standing), I felt that this, too, was a part of my destiny, that 
thou, my friend, who couldst have been a great protection to 
me, shouldst be at a distance. With thee, the solace of a 
dejected spirit was wanting; and a great part, as well, of my mind 
and of my faculties. But now, grant me this aid from afar, 
which alone remains, and cheer my heart by thy converse : a heart 
(if thou wouldst put any trust in a friend that speaks no un- 
to the Romans in the days of Ovid ; but in the time of the later emperors 
it became somewhat better known. 



E. vi. J OP OYTD. 385 

truth), that ought rather to be called unwise, than wicked. It 
is neither a slight matter, nor a safe one, to write what was 
the cause of my offence: my wounds will not endure handling. 
Do not inquire, how they have come to be inflicted on me ; if 
thou wishest the wounds to close, disturb them not. 

Whatever it is, though not a crime, yet it must be called a 
fault ; or is it that every fault, committed against the great 
Gods, is a crime ? Some hope then, Grsecinus, is still left to 
my spirit, of a mitigation of my punishment. Hope was the 
only Goddess, that, when the Deities fled from the wicked 
earth, alone remained on the soil so hateful to the Gods. She 
causes even the miner, bound with the fetter, to live on, 
and to expect that his legs will be liberated from the iron. 
She causes the shipwrecked sailor to extend his arms in the 
midst of the waves, when he beholds no land on any side. 
Many a time has the skilful care of the physicians given a 
person up ; and yet, as his pulse has failed, hope has not deserted 
him. Those shut up in prison are said to hope for safety ; and 
the criminal, as he hangs on the cross, 24 breathes his prayers. 
How many, when they have fastened their necks with the noose, 
has that Goddess forbidden to die by the fate they had pur- 
posed ! Me too, endeavouring to end my griefs by the sword, 
she prevented, and restrained me by laying her hand upon me. 
"What art thou doing?" said she. "Tears are needed, not 
blood; by means of them, often is the wrath of the Prince wont 
to be assuaged." Although then it is not the due of my 
deserts, yet there is great room for hope, in the clemency of 
the God. Do thou entreat him, Greecinus, not to be inexor- 
able against me ; and contribute thy words towards the attain- 
ment of my wishes. May I he entombed amid the sands of 
Tomi, if I do not believe that thou wishest the same in my 

24 On the cross.'] — Ver. 38. This instrument of capital punishment was 
used by the Romans and Carthaginians. It was usually in shape like the 
letter T or X, but there were other forms of it also. The first was the 
most common sort : the stem being a little elongated above the point of 
intersection by the transverse beam ; and on a cross of this kind, according 
to the unanimous testimony of the Fathers of the Church, Our Saviour 
suffered. The punishment was usually inflicted on slaves, and the com- 
monest malefactors. The condemned, as we are informed by Plutarch, 
carried his own cross, and, being first stripped of his clothes, was either 
nailed or bound to it, and, in the latter case, was left to die of hunger. The 
body was usually left on the cross after death 

C C 



386 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. i. 

behalf ; for first would the pigeons begin to avoid the turrets, 
the wild beasts their dens, the sheep their pastures, the di- 
dapper the waves, before Greecinus would show himself un- 
kind to his old friend. Everything has not been so far 
reversed as that, by my destiny. 



EPISTLE VII.— TO MESSALINUS. 

In this Epistle, he reminds Messalinus of his former acquaintanceship with 
him, and of his intimacy with his father and brother. He then en- 
larges on the punishment which has been inflicted on him by the 
hand of Augustus, and gives his reasons w T hy he ought not to be 
disowned on that account. He concludes, by declaring the affection he 
has ever felt towards the house of Messalinus. 

The letter, Messalinus, which thou art reading, has, in the 
place of words, brought thee my salutation, even from among the 
savage Getse. Does the region reveal who the writer is? or is 
it unknown to thee, unless thou readest my name, that it is I, 
Naso, who write these words ? Who of thy friends lies pros- 
trate, far removed in a distant region, except myself, who 
pray ever to be thy friend? Oh I that the Gods would wish 
that all who esteem and love thee, should gain no knowledge 
of this race. It is enough for me, to be living among ice and 
the Scythian arrows ; if a kind of death is to be considered 
life. Let the earth with its wars, or the climate with its cold, 
be distressing me, and let the fierce Getan be striking me with 
his arms, and the storm with its hail. Let a region confine 
me that is prolific neither in pomes nor in grapes ; and of 
which no side is free from the enemy. Let the rest of the 
multitude of thy friends be in safety, among whom I was a 
small fraction, like one out of a great number. Ah, wretched 
me ! if thou art offended by these words ; and if thou denyest 
that I was ever, in any degree, thy friend. Suppose that to 
be the truth, thou oughtst to forgive me thus guilty of a false- 
hood : my praise subtracts nothing from thy fame. Who is 
there, if the Caesars are known to him, that does not pretend 
that he is a friend of theirs ? Pardon me, if I confess it; thou 
shalt be my Caesar. But I rush not in where I may not tread ; 
and it is enough, if thou dost not deny that thy hall was once 
open to me. And although I had no further intimacy with thee 



+ 



e. vii.] or oyid. 387 

than this ; thou art now saluted by one mouth less than formerly 
thou wast ; but thy father did not deny that I was his friend, 
the encourager, the cause, and the very light of my pursuits. 
To him I gave both my tears, as my last gift at his death, and 
my verses for recitation in the middle of the Forum. Besides, 
thou hast a brother, united to thee in an affection as strong as 
that between the sons of Atreus and the offspring of Tyndarus. 
He rejected me, neither as a companion, nor as a friend ; if 
thou art of opinion that these avowals will not do him any in- 
jury ; but, if thou dost not think so, I will confess that in this 
respect, also, I have been [untruthful. Sooner than that, may 
the whole of thy house be shut against me. But there is no 
necessity for it to be shut, for there is no power that has 
the means of preventing a friend from doing wrong. And 
although, much as I could wish that my fault could be denied, 
no one is ignorant that I was not guilty of a sin. And, unless 
some part of my offence had been excusable, 'twould have 
been but a light penalty to be removed from my country. 
But Csesar himself, who perceives everything, saw that my 
offence might be construed to be thoughtlessness ; and, so 
far as I permitted him, and so far as the matter allowed of, he 
showed himself merciful ; and he used the flames of his light- 
nings with moderation. He took not away my life, nor my 
property, nor even the possibility of my return ; if only his 
wrath can be moderated by your entreaties, my friends. 

But heavy was my fall ; and what is there surprising, if one 
who has been struck by Jupiter, has no slight wound ? Even 
when Achilles spared to exert his strength, the spear of the son 
of Pelias, when hurled, gave heavy blows. Since, therefore, the 
sentence of the avenger was favourable to me, there is no reason 
why thy gate should deny acquaintance with me. It was 
attended, I confess, less often than it ought to have been ; but 
this, too, I believe, was the effect of my destiny. And yet no 
other one was more sensible of my respect ; and whether in this 
place, or in that, I was ever under the protection of thy family. 
Such is thy affection, that, even if he did not cultivate thy 
friendship, the friend of thy brother has some claim upon thee ; 
and is it not thy own good fortune, as gratitude is ever the re- 
sult of kindness, now to have made thyself deserving of it ? And 
if thou alio west me to persuade thee what to desire, pray the 
Gods that thou mayst give, rather than exchange for a requital. 

c c 2 



388 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. i- 

And so thou art wont to do, and, so far as I can remember, 
thou wast wont to be the originator of kindnesses shown to 
many. 25 Give me, Messalinus, whatever place thou mayst please, 
so that I be a portion not alienated from thy house ; and, if 
thou dost not grieve that Naso has endured misfortunes, since 
he appears to have deserved them, still grieve that he has been 
deserving of them. 



EPISTLE VIII.— TO SEVERUS. 

He shows his friend how he is surrounded with enemies, and amid eter- 
nal warfare, at a time when he feeis the pangs of regret for his friends, 
his wife, his daughter, and his country. He expresses his sorrow at 
not. having the opportunity of giving his time to agricultural pursuits, 
such as ploughing and sowing ; but he says that such a thing is im- 
possible, as the city of Tomi is ever surrounded with multitudes of the 
enemy. He congratulates Severus on his prosperity ; and entreats him 
to request Augustus to grant him some other place of banishment. 

Receive, Severus, thou great portion of my life, the salutation 
sent from Naso, beloved by thee. But ask not what I am 
doing : if I should recount everything, thou wouldst weep. 
Let it be enough, if the sum of my misfortunes is known to 
thee. 

Destitute of peace, I am living in eternal warfare, the qui- 
vered Getan provoking the cruel strife. Out of so many ba- 
nished, I am the only one that is a soldier, as well as an exile ; 
all the rest of the exiles are in safety, but I do not envy their 
lot. And that thou mayst the more readily accord pardon to 
my writings, thou wilt read these lines composed by me> in 
readiness for military duty. 

There stands an ancient city, near the bank of the Danube, 
that bears two names,- 6 scarcely accessible, from its fortifica- 
tions and the position of the place. The Caspian iEgypsus (if 
we believe them, when speaking of themselves) founded it, and 

25 Kindnesses shown to many.'] — Ver. 66. This is clearly the meaning 
of the passage ; but there must either be a corrupt reading here, or Ovid 
must have forgotten his Latinity among the Getas. ' Causa/ instead of 
* causam,' would be correct Latin, though it would not suit the measure. 

25 That bears two names.] — Ver. 11. The Danube was called by that 
name, from its source to the city of Axium ; and thence, to the sea, it was 
known by the name of Ister. 



B. VIII. ] 



OF OYID. 389 



called it after his own name. The savage Getan took it, the 
Odrysii being massacred in a sudden incursion, and then he 
waged war against its king. He, mindful of his high birth, 
which he enhances by his courage, immediately presents him- 
self, surrounded with soldiers innumerable ; and he does not 
withdraw, before, through the well-deserved slaughter of the 
aggressors, he, in his excess of vengeance, himself becomes the 
aggressor. king, the most valiant in this our age, may it 
be granted thee, ever to wield the sceptre with an honoured 
hand. May Rome, too, the offspring of Mars, and the great 
Caesar, grant thee their approval, a thing still more desirable ; 
what greater boon than this could I pray for thee 1 

But, not forgetful whence I have digressed, my dear com- 
panion, I complain that cruel warfare is added to my calami- 
ties. The rising Pleiad has brought on four autumns, since, 
driven into these Stygian regions, I have been deprived 
of thee. But do not suppose that Naso regrets the conveni- 
ences of a city life ; and yet he does regret them. For at one 
moment I recall to mind you, my much-loved friends ; at 
another time, my daughter, with my dear wife, recurs to me : 
and then, from my house I turn to the spots of the beauteous 
City : and my mind, with its eye, surveys them all. Now the 
markets, now the temples, now the theatres paved with mar- 
ble, and now all the porticos recur to me, with their level 
ground. 27 Now the grass of the plain that looks on the beau- 
teous gardens, and the standing waters of the Euripus, 28 and 
the aqueduct of the Virgin, recur to me. 

But, I suppose, the delights of the City have been thus torn 
from wretched me, that, at least, I may be allowed, in some de- 

27 With their level ground.'] — Ver. 36. The porticos which were attached 
to the temples and public edifices, as well as to the houses of the great, 
served both for the purposes of ornament and utility, as they afforded to 
persons, wishful to take exercise, a retreat from the rain and the rays of the 
sun. For this reason, care was taken that the ground should be made level, 
by being paved. 

28 Waters of the Euripus.]— Ver. 38. The Euripus was properly the 
sound or strait between Euboea and Bceotia, now called the straits of 
Negropont. From the resemblance, aqueducts, canals, ditches, and water- 
passages were called by that name. There were several canals or pieces 
of standing water in the Circus Maximus. The aqueduct of the Virgin is 
said to have been so called, because when water was being sought, a little 
girl was the first to point out the spring. 



390 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. I. 

gree, to enjoy the pleasures of the country. My spirit longs 
not for the fields that it has lost, and the rural retreats to be 
beheld on the Pelignian soil ; nor yet for the gardens, situate 
on the pine-bearing hills, which the Clodian way, at its junc- 
tion with the Fiaminian, looks upon. For another, whom, I 
know not, have I cultivated them ; in them I was wont to 
conduct the fountain streams to my plantations, and I repent 
it not. There too, if they are still alive, are apples, 
once planted with my hand, but not destined to be gathered 
by it as well. In exchange for the loss of these things, 
would that some piece of land, at least, had fallen to my lot 
to cultivate in my exile. I myself could wish, were it only 
allowed me, to feed my she-goats balancing on the edge 
of the crag, and, leaning on my staff, to feed my sheep. I 
myself, did not my heart continually dwell on my wonted 
cares, could lead the oxen that till the land under the curving 
yoke. I could learn the words that the Getan bullocks under- 
stand, and I could apply to them the wonted threats of the 
'ploughman. I myself, guiding the handle of the pressed 
plough, with my hand could try to scatter the seed in the 
ground that has been turned up. I would not hesitate to 
cleanse the field with the long hoe, and to supply the water, 
for the thirsting garden to drink up. But in what quarter am 
I to find this, between whom and the foe, the fortifications 
and the closed gate form but a scanty interval ? But for thee, 
(and with all my heart do I rejoice at it) the Goddesses of 
Destiny have spun strong threads. At one moment, the Field 
of Mars receives thee ; at another, the portico, with its dark 
shade ; at another, the Forum, to which thou givest but little 
of thy time. And now Umbria 29 recalls thee ; and the Appian 
way takes thee, going towards the fields of Alba with swift 
wheel. Perhaps here thou mayst wish that Csesar would 
check his deserved anger ; and that thy country residence 
might be my hospitable retreat. Oh ! my friend, 'tis too much, 
what thou dost wish for ; request something more moderate, 
and take in the sails of thy desires. Would that a land were 
granted me nearer to my country, and subject to no warfare ; 
then would a great part be subtracted from my woes. 

29 Unibria.~\— Ver. 67. This was a district between the Sabines and 
the country of Etruria, where the country residence of Severus was situate. 



IX.] OP OYID. 391 



EPISTLE IX.— TO MAXIMUS. 

The poet having been informed by Maximus of the death of his friend 
Celsus (through whose intercession he had hoped that Maximus would in- 
terest himself in soliciting a reversal of his sentence), declares that he 
has moistened the letter of Maximus with his tears ; and that nothing 
more grievous has befallen him, since he arrived in Pontus. He en- 
larges upon his friendship both with Maximus and Celsus. He declares 
his wish, in some manner, to celebrate his funereal rites, which, however, he 
can only do with his verses : and he concludes, by entreating Maximus to 
look upon him as dead, and to show him a similar degree of attention. 

Thy letter, which came to me, speaking of the loss of Cel- 
sus, 30 was immediately moistened with my tears ; and, what 
I ought not to say, and I did not think possible to happen, 
thy letter was read by unwilling eyes. Nothing has come to 
my ears more distressing, since I have been in Pontus ; and 
may it long be so, I pray. His countenance ever remains 
before my eyes, as though he were present ; and affection 
makes the dead still to live. My mind often recalls his 
playful remarks, when stripped of gravity ; and often recalls 
his performance of the serious duties of life with sincere 
fidelity. 

But no occasion recurs to me more frequently than that, 
which I wish had been the last moment of my life ; when my 
house coming down suddenly, fell in ruins with a tremendous 
crash upon the head of its master. He was present with me, 
Maximus, when a great part deserted me ; and he proved him- 
self no hanger-on upon Fortune. I beheld him, weeping a" 
my downfall, in no other manner, than if his brother was about 
to be placed on the burning pile. He remained/asfewec?in my 
embrace, and consoled me, as I lay prostrate, and even mingled 
his own tears with mine. Oh! how often did he, at that moment, 
the repulsive defender of my hated life, restrain my hands 
prepared for my own destruction ! Oh ! how| often did he 
say, " The anger of the Gods is capable of being appeased ; 
live on, and do not deny that possibly thou mayst receive 
pardon. 55 Yet these were his most remarkable words, " Con- 
sider how much assistance Maximus ought to afford thee ! 
Maximus will apply himself to the task, and, such is his affec- 

30 Celsus.'] — Ver. 1. Aulus Cornelius Celsus was a Roman physician of 
great learning and ability. His works on medicine have come down to us. 
He wrote also on Rhetoric and the Military Art. 



392 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. I. 

tion, he will ask that the anger of Csesar be not lasting for 
ever. Together with his brothers, he will use his energies 
and try every resource, that thy griefs may be alleviated." 
These words diminished in me the hatred of my wretched 
existence ; and be it thy care, Maximus, that they prove not 
to have been unfounded. Hither, too, he used to swear to 
me that he would come, if only thou didst grant him permis- 
sion to undertake so long a voyage. For he esteemed thy 
family with no less veneration, than that with which thou thy- 
self dost worship the Gods that rule the earth. Believe me, 
although thou deservedly hast many friends ; out of so many 
he was inferior to none V if only* it is not riches, nor the illus- 
trious names of ancestors, hut probity and talent that make 
men great. Justly then do I shed the tear for Celsus re- 
moved from us, which he gave for m-e still living, at the time 
when I was banished. Deservedly do I afford these lines, 
that attest thy rare virtues ; in order, Celsus, that posterity 
may read of thy name. This is what I am able to send thee 
from the Getic regions ; in this place, this is the only thing that 
'tis certain is my own. 

I could not attend thy funeral, nor anoint thy body ; and 
from thy pile I am separated by the distance of the whole 
earth. Maximus, who was able, and whom, wheft alive, thou 
didst esteem as a Divinity, performed every duty ft)** thee. He 
performed thy sepulchral rites, and gave thee a ftmeral of 
great pomp ; he, too, poured the amomum on thy cold 'breast. 
He, weeping, mingled the ointment with his gushing tearS^ and 
buried thy bones, laid at rest in the neighbouring ground. And 
since he gives their due to his friends when dead, he is at 
liberty to reckon me in the number of them. 



EPISTLE X.— TO FLACCUS. 

Ovid details the languid state of his body, and thecauses of his illness ; 
and he entreats Flaccus and his brother to give him their assistance, and 
to endeavour to moderate the wrath of Augustus against him. 

Flacctjs, the exile Naso sends thee health ; if any one can 
send the thing which he himself is in want of. For lasting 
grief does not allow a body diseased by grievous cares to re- 
tain its strength. And yet no pain is there ; I am not parched 
by panting fever, and my pulse beats with its usual tenor. My 



E. x.] OF OYID. 393 

appetite is blunted ; food set before me creates loathing ; 
and I complain when the hour comes for my hated repast, 
Set before me whatever the sea, whatever the land, whatever 
the air produces ; there will be nothing there, to create an appe- 
tite in me. Were Hebe, the active damsel, with her beauteous 
hand to present to me nectar and ambrosia,, the drink and the 
food of the Gods, yet the taste of them would not sharpen 
my dulled palate ; and the weight would rest long on my in- 
active stomach. This, though it is most true, I dare not write 
to any one ; lest they should style my malady mere affectation. 
Such is my state, forsooth, such is the aspect of my fortunes, 
that there can be room even for affectation ! I wish such 
affectation as this, to be the lot of the man, if such there is, 
who fears lest the wrath of Csesar against me should be 
mitigated. That sleep, too, which, to a weakly body, is aliment, 
affords no nourishment by its virtues to my emaciated frame. 
But I keep awake, and for ever do my griefs abstain from 
sleep ; matter for which the very place itself affords me. 
Scarcely, then, couldst thou recognize my features, if seen ; 
and thou wouldst ask whither the colour has gone, that for- 
merly existed. But little nourishment comes into my wasted 
limbs ; and my members are paler than new wax. These ma- 
ladies I have not contracted through excess of wine; thou 
knowest how almost water alone is drunk by me. I am not 
stuffed with food : and were I affected with a desire for it, 
there is no abundance in the Getic regions. 

The injurious pleasures of Venus take not away my strength : 
she is not wont to approach my bed of sorrow. The water 
and the climate are injurious to me ; and, a cause still more 
powerful than these, the anxiety of mind that is ever 
present with me. And hadst thou not, together with thy 
brother, like to thee, alleviated this, scarcely could my sorrow- 
ing mind have borne its weight of sadness. You two are as 
a hospitable shore for my frail skiff, and you give me that aid 
which many refuse. Give it me always,! pray, because I shall 
always stand in need of it : as long as the divine Majesty of 
Caesar shall be offended with me. And do you, both, humbly 
entreat your Gods, that he may moderate, not that he may put 
an end to, the anger that I have merited. 



394 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [ B . ii. 



BOOK THE SECOND. 



EPISTLE I.— TO GERMANICUS C^SAR. 

The Poet says, that the fame of the triumph of Tiberius Caesar has reached 
even Scythia, and that it has afforded him much delight ; he then de- 
scribes the procession; and praising the clemency which Caesar has 
shown, in sparing the lives of the enemies whom he had taken in battle, 
he concludes that he himself has a greater right to expect it. He prays 
that the Gods will grant length of days to Tiberius. 

Even thus far has the fame of the triumph of Caesar arrived, 
whither the languid breeze of the wearied South wind comes 
with difficulty. I thought that there could be nothing pleas- 
ing to me in the regions of Scythia ; the place is less hateful 
to me now, than it was before. The cloud of my cares being 
dispelled, I have, at length, seen a little clear sky : and thus 
I have deceived my destiny. Even if Caesar should wish that 
no joys should fall to my lot, he may still be desirous that this 
one pleasure should be granted to every man. The Gods also 
command sorrow to be laid aside on their festivals, that they 
may be worshipped by all with cheerful veneration. In fine, 
what it is undoubted madness to dare to confess ; even should 
he forbid it, I shall experience pleasure on this occasion. Often 
as Jupiter refreshes the fields with nourishing showers, the 
clinging burr is wont to spring up, mixed with the corn. I 
too, a useless weed, feel the effects of the bounteous Divinity ; 
and often am I refreshed with unintentional benefits. The 
joys that pervade the mind of Caesar are made my own, to the 
best of my ability : that house has nothing that belongs to 
itself alone. Fame, I return thee thanks ; by means of whom 
the procession of triumph 1 has been beheld by me, though shut 

1 Procession of triumph.'] — Ver. 19. It has been supposed by some 
commentators that he here refers to the ovation of Tiberius after his defeat 



B. I.] OP OTID. 3>95 

up in the midst of the Getse. Under thy instruction I learned 
that nations innumerable had lately assembled, to behold the 
features of their Prince ; and that Rome, which embraces the 
immense world within her extensive walls, scarcely found 
room for their entertainment. 'Twas thou that didst tell me, 
how, after the lowering South wind for many a day before had 
poured down its constant showers, the Sun shone forth bril- 
liantly with his heavenly refulgence, the day being in accord- 
ance with the countenances of the people ; and how that the 
Conqueror, with the great honour of his eulogies, had distri- 
buted the prizes of war among the heroes bepraised by him ; 
and how that, when about to assume the embroidered gar- 
ments, the insignia of glory, he first placed the frankincense 
on the hallowed altars ; and how that he piously propitiated 
Justice, the peculiar Deity of his parent ; she who ever holds 
a temple in his breast : and how that wherever he proceeded, 
a happy omen was given in shouts of applause, and the stones 
turned red with the dew-besprinkled roses. Hoiv that, next in 
order, along with the conquered men, the cities of the bar- 
barians were carried, imitating in silver the real walls : and 
how that rivers and mountains, and meadows among lofty 
woods, and various arms were mingled with their weapons in 
trophy piles. And how that the roof of the Roman Forum 
was gilded by the triumphal gold, which the Sun shone upon. 
And how that as many chiefs bore chains fastened to their 
captive necks, as were almost sufficient to compose an army 
of the enemy. Of these, the greatest part received life and par- 
don ; among whom was Bato, the head and the very existence 
of the war. Why should I deny that the wrath of the Divi- 
nity may possibly be mitigated against me, when I behold 
how the Gods are merciful to their enemies ? The same report, 
Germanicus, brought the news to me, how that cities had passed 
in the procession under the title of thy name : 2 and how that 

of the Pannonians ; but it is much more likely that the victory of Tibe- 
rius over the Illyrians, which happened in the year preceding the death of 
Augustus, is here celebrated ; as this seems to be the period at which 
this book was composed. Messalinus, to whom the next letter is addressed, 
was one of the lieutenants of Tiberius on this occasion, and, with him, 
partook of the honour of the triumph. 

_ 2 Under the ^ title of thy name.~]—Ver. 50. Models of the captured 
cities were carried in the procession ; over them was a label or superscrip- 
tion, bearing the name of the general by whom each place had been taken. 



396 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. II. 

they were not secure against thee, either in the thickness of 
the walls, or in the arms with which they were defended, or 
'n the natural advantages of their situation. 

May the Gods grant thee length of years ! All other blessings 
from thy own self thou wilt derive, let only length of time he 
granted for thy virtue. That which I pray, will come to pass ; 
the prophecies of the Poets have some value ; for the God gave 
an auspicious sign as I breathed the wish. Thee too, will Rome 
behold, in her joy, ascending as a conqueror to the Tarpeian 
heights, thy horses wreathed with garlands : the Father will 
behold the ripening honours of his son, experiencing that joy, 
which he himself has afforded by his own glories. Thou that 
art the first of our youths, both in war and in peace, mark the 
words that have just been spoken by me, as I uttered my pro- 
phecy to thee. Perhaps I shall recount this triumph as well 
in my verses, if my life shall only bear up against my woes : 
if I myself shall not have first dyed the Scythian arrows with 
my blood, and the savage Getan shall not have first struck off 
this head of mine with his sword. And if, while I am still 
living, the laurel shall be granted thee in the temples, thou wilt 
pronounce that my presage was doubly true. 3 



EPISTLE II.— TO MESSALINUS. 

He entreats him to receive this letter, coming from the shores of the 
Euxine, with the same countenance that he was wont formerly to show 
to himself. He also requests him, when he has read the writer's name, 
not to refuse to read the whole Epistle ; as he has not been guilty 
of such crimes as to forbid his lines to be read by him. He entreats 
him, on many considerations, at a fitting time, to entreat Augustus in 
his behalf ; but he requests him only to do so, if he shall feel con- 
vinced that no injurious results will be the consequence. 

Naso, the admirer of thy family from his earliest years, now 
banished to the shores on the left of the Euxine sea, sends 
thee, Messalinus, this salutation, from among the savage Getse, 
which he was accustomed to give thee personally. Wretched 
am I, if, when thou readest my name, thy countenance is not 
the same as once it was, and if thou hesitatest to read the rest 
to the end. Read them through, and do not banish my 
3 Doubly true.'] — Ver. 68. True, both as to his having gained a triumph, 
and as to the poet being alive to witness it. 



e. ii.] or oytd. 397 

words, as well as myself : it is allowed my verses to be in your 
City. I never conceived the thought that the brilliant stars 
could be touched by my hand, if Ossa could only bear Pelion. 
I have not, following the mad expedition of Enceladus, 
wielded arms against the Gods, the rulers of the earth. No 
Deities have been struck by any weapon of mine, as was done 
by the rash right hand of the son of Tydeus. My fault was 
a heavy one, but such as could ruin myself only ; and no 
greater heinousness has it attained. I can be called nothing 
else than imprudent and timid ; these are the two real cha- 
racteristics of my mind. I acknowledge, indeed, that, with 
justice, thou dost not lend an easy ear to my entreaties, after 
the merited wrath of Csesar. And such is thy affection to all 
who bear the. name of lulus, that thou considerest thyself to 
be offended, when any one of them is offended. But even 
shouldst thou bear arms, and shouldst thou threaten cruel 
wounds, still thou wilt not cause me to be in dread of thee. 
The Trojan ship received the Grecian Achsemenides ; 4 and the 
spear of the son of Pelias bore aid to the Mysian chief. 
Sometimes the violator of the temple flies for refuge to the 
altar, and dreads not to implore the aid of the offended Deity. 
Some one, perhaps, may say that this is not safe ; I confess it ; 
but my bark is not sailing in smooth water. Let others seek 
safety. The most wretched Fate affords its security ; for 
there is no fear of worse mishaps. The man that is hurried on 
by his destinies, what but his destinies should he entreat? 
Often does the prickly thorn produce the sweet rose ; he that 
is carried along by the foaming tide, extends his arms towards 
the crag, and catches at the brambles and the hard rock; the 
bird that is in dread of the hawk, with trembling wings dares 
to come, in its weariness, to the breast of man ; the hind that 
in its terror, is flying from the savage dogs, hesitates not to 
trust itself to the neighbouring house. Grant, I pray thee, 
most kind friend, access to my tears ; and shut not the obdu- 
rate door to my kind words. And, do thou kindly carry 
these words of mine to the Deities of Rome, venerated by 
thee not less than the Thunderer of the Tarpeian. As my 

4 Ach<zmenides.~\ — Ver. 25. He was one of the companions of Ulysses, 
who was left on shore, in Sicily, when Ulysses tied thence. Virgil and 
Ovid [Metamorphoses, Book xiv,] relate howJSneas discovered him there, 
and rescued him from the danger of falling into the hands of the Cyclop, 
Polyphemus. 



398 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. II. 

ambassador, undertake to plead the cause of this my re- 
quest : although, under my name, no cause is really good. 
Now, nearly entombed, now assuredly cold as death, with 
difficulty shall I be saved by thee, if I am saved at all. On 
this occasion, the favour which the esteem of the immortal 
Prince bestows upon thee, may make an effort in behalf of 
my ruined fortunes. On this occasion, that brilliancy of 
speech, which is peculiar to the members of thy family, with 
which thou wast wont to aid the trembling accused, may be 
employed by thee. For in thee still lives the tongue of thy 
eloquent parent ; and that point of excellence has found its 
own heir. 

I intreat not that tongue to attempt to defend me ; the 
cause of a criminal that has made a confession cannot be de- 
fended. Yet consider whether thou canst palliate my mis- 
deed under the name of error, or whether it is better not to 
enter upon that point. The kind of wound is such, that as it 
admits of no cure, I consider it safer for it not to be handled. 
Be silent, thou tongue of mine ; not another word must be said. 
I could wish myself to cover these ashes of mine. Take care, 
then, to speak in such a manner as if no mistake beguiled 
me, that I may enjoy that life which he has granted me. 
And when he shall be calm, and shall have laid aside that 
countenance, which agitates by its influence 5 both the earth and 
the empire, entreat him not to allow me to become an humble 
prey to the Getse, and to grant me a quiet spot for my wretched 
exile. 

The time is propitious for thy entreaties ; he himself is 
prosperous, and sees, Rome, thy resources prospering, which 
he has created. His wife, in happiness, preserves her nuptial 
couch 6 with chastity : his son is extending the sway of Auso- 
nia. Germanicus himself is exceeding his years in his spirit, 
and the natural vigour of Drusus is not less than his great- 

5 By its influence.'] — Ver. 66. ' Secum ;' literally, 'with itself;' mean- 
ing that the earth enjoys repose, or is distracted with trouble, according as 
the countenance of Augustus is indicative of a corresponding state of 
things. 

6 Her nuptial couch.'] — Ver. 71. * Pulvinaria.' These were stuffed 
cushions, which were used on the couches on which the statues of the 
Deities reposed at the ' Lectisternia/ Avhich were celebrated in their re- 
spective temples. By the use of this term, a compliment is intended to be 
conveyed to the elevated position enjoyed by Livia. 



E. ii.] OF OYID. 399 

ness of soul. In addition to this, his daughters-in-law, and his 
affectionate granddaughters, and the children of his grand- 
sons, and the other members of the house of Augustus, are 
nourishing. Add, too, that the Peeonians 7 have just now af- 
forded a triumph, and that the arms of the mountainous 
Dalmatia have been reduced to tranquillity. Illyria, too, 
throwing away her arms, has not disdained to bear the foot of 
Caesar, impressed on her servile head. He himself, conspicuous 
in his chariot, with a mild countenance, has had his temples 
wreathed with laurel, the produce of the virgin beloved by 
Phoebus. Him, as he went along, together with yourselves, 
his affectionate offspring attended — an offspring worthy of 
their parent, and of the titles that have been given to them : 
an offspring like to the brothers, whom, as they occcupy the 
neighbouring temple, the God Julius beholds 8 from his lofty 
shrine. Messalinus does not deny, that to thee, to whom all 
things ought to give place, the first rank in happiness be- 
longs. Whoever comes next after these, he enters into the 
contest of love for the Ccesars ; thou, Messalinus, in this 
respect, shalt be the inferior of no mortal. Him dost thou 
venerate, by whose means, before the fitting age, the laurel, 
deservedly decreed to thee who merited it, descended upon thy 
honoured locks. Happy were they, to whom it was allowed 
to behold these triumphs, and to enjoy a sight of the face 
of a Prince that is the equal of the Gods. But by me, in- 
stead of the face of Caesar, the country of the Sauromatse 
must be beheld, a land devoid of peace, and water bound up in 
ice. But if thou nearest this, and if my voice reaches even 
so far ; let thy favour be kindly employed, for a change of the 
place of my exile. This does thy father ask, who was venerated by 
me from my earliest years, if indeed that eloquent shade still en- 
joys any perception. This, too, does thy brother ask ; although, 
perchance, he apprehends that thy care of saving me may be 

7 The Pceonians.] — Ver. 139. These were a people of Mysia, neigh- 
bouring to the Illyrians and Pannonians. In mentioning these, and Dal- 
matia and Illyria, he alludes to the successes that Tiberius had lately 
gained in Illyria. 

8 The God Julius beholds.] — Ver, 86. This either means that the 
statue of Julius Csesar was placed in a temple (perhaps that of Venus, 
which he had founded), looking down upon the temple of Castor and 
Pollux; or it refers to his Equestrian statue, which was near the threshold 
of that temple. 



400 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. ii. 

to thy injury. All thy family asks this ; and thou thyself 
canst not deny it, that I was in the number of thy friends. 
With the exception of my Art of Love, often wast thou the ap- 
prover of my talents, which I have since found that I employed 
to bad purpose. And to thy family, no cause for shame can 
my life afford, if only my last fault is excepted. May, then, 
the fortunes of thy family ever flourish, and may the Gods 
above, and the Caesars, have a care for thee ; supplicate the 
Divinity that is merciful, but that is deservedly offended with 
me, to remove me from the barbarism of this Scythian spot. 
'Tis difficult, I confess ; but courage seeks obstacles ; and so 
much the greater will be my gratitude for thy deserts. And 
yet neither any iEtnsean Polyphemus in his vast cavern, nor 
any Antiphates, 9 will be hearing thy words : but a parent, 
gentle and lenient, and ever ready to pardon ; one who often 
thunders, without hurling his fiery bolts : one who, when he 
has come to a sad decision, himself too becomes sad ; and to 
whom it is almost a punishment to inflict punishment. Yet 
his clemency has been overcome by my fault, and his anger 
has been forced to have recourse to his power. 

And, since I am removed from my native land by the distance 
of the whole earth, and I have not the liberty to throw myself at 
the feet of the Deities themselves ; do thou, as the priest, bear 
these requests of mine to the Gods above, whom thou dost 
adore ; and to my words, add thy own entreaties as well. 
However, try these means only, if thou shait be of opinion that 
they will not prove injurious. Pardon my timidity ; once ship- 
wrecked, I am in dread of the whole ocean. 



EPISTLE III.— TO MAXIMUS. 

The Poet extols the fidelity and constancy shown by Maximus towards 
him in his adversity ; and he says, that he was not, like the multitude, 
led by motives of interest, but by those of honour and virtue. He en- 
treats him to persist in his attachment, and to give him all the aid in 
his power. 

Maximus, thou, who by thy illustrious virtues, dost equal thy 
name, and dost not suffer the gifts of thy intellect to be 

9 Antiphates. .] — Ver. 116. He was the king of the Laestrygons, who 
were cannibals ; they are mentioned in the Odyssey, and by Ovid in the 
14th Eookof the Metamorphoses.. 



E. in.] OF OVID. 401 

eclipsed by thy nobleness of birth ; honoured by me, even to 
the latest moment of my life, (for in what does this state differ 
from death ?) Thou dost a thing, in not turning thy back 
upon thy friend in his affliction, than which there is nothing 
more uncommon in this thy age. It is a shocking thing, 
indeed, to be owned, but, if we must only confess the truth, 
the multitude esteems friendship according to interest. It is 
first, a care what is expedient, before what is honourable ; and 
attachment both stands and falls with a man's fortunes. 
Among many thousands, thou wouldst not easily find one, to 
believe that virtue is its own reward. Its own comeliness, if 
there is no reward for a virtuous action, does not influence them, 
and they are sorry to be honest for no recompense. There is 
nothing dear to them, but that which is for their advantage. 
Go, noio, and deprive the greedy mind of the hope of profit, 
and not one will be found, to practise virtue for nothing. 
But now-a-days every one loves his own interest, and he reckons, 
on his anxious fingers, what may turn out useful to himself. 
The once venerated name of Friendship is prostituted, and 
she sits like a harlot, to he bought at a, price. The more, then, 
do I admire thee, that thou, as well, art not contaminated by the 
blemish of the universal vice, as though by a rushing torrent. 
No one now, is beloved, but the man, to whom Fortune is favour- 
able : soon as she thunders, she chases away all that are near. 
See my own case ; I was once surrounded with no few 
friends, while the favouring breeze swelled my sails ; soon 
as the raging billows were aroused by the boisterous wind, 
I was left, in the midst of the waves, in a shattered bark : 
and while the rest were unwilling to appear even to have 
known me, barely two or three of you gave aid to me, thus 
prostrate. Of them, thou wast the chief; and thou wast de- 
serving not to be the follower of others, but the originator ; 
not to seek an example, but to give one. Virtue and attachment, 
lend their aid to thee, deriving no profit from thy actions, ex- 
cept the fact, that thou hast not acted amiss. In thy judgment, 
virtue requires no reward, and is to be sought for her own 
sake, unaccompanied by external benefits. Thou thinkest it 
a disgrace for a friend to be repulsed, because he is in misery ; 
and for him to cease to belong to thee, because he is unfortu- 
nate. It is more merciful to place the hands under the wea- 
ried chin of the swimmer, than to overwhelm his head in the 

d n 



402 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. II. 

flowing waters. See, what the grandson of iEacus 10 did for 
his friend, after his death ; and consider, that this life of mine 
is as bad as death. 

Theseus accompanied Pirithoiis to the Stygian waves. In 
what degree does my fate differ from the Stygian streams ! 
The youth from Phocis attended Orestes in his madness ; 
my error, also, has no little amount of insanity. Do thou, too, 
accept these praises of the illustrious heroes ; and, as thou 
art wont to do, give thy aid, so far as thou canst, to me thus 
ruined. If I know thee aright ; if thou art now also what 
formerly thou wast wont to be, and if thy spirit has not failed 
thee ; the more fiercely Fortune rages, the more strongly dost 
thou resist ; and, as befits thee, thou takest care, that she shall 
not overcome thee, An enemy that fights well, causes thee, 
too, to fight well ; so that the same cause works both for my 
advantage and my disadvantage. In truth, inestimable youth, 
thou thinkest it not worthy of thee, to become the attendant 
on Fortune, the Goddess that stands upon the wheel. Thou 
art steadfast, and inasmuch as they are not such as thou 
couldst wish, thou guidest the sails, such as they are, of my 
shattered bark. And so greatly have its ruins been shaken, as 
to have been deemed on the point of falling ; but they still stand, 
supported by thy shoulders. At first indeed, thy wrath was 
just, and not any lighter than his, who was deservedly offended 
with me : and thou wast wont to swear that the same grief 
which affected the heart of the great Csesar, was forthwith 
thine own. But, when the cause of my downfall was heard 
of by thee, thou art reported to have grieved much at my 
faults. Then, for the first time, did thy letters begin to con- 
sole me ; and to afford a hope that the offended God could be 
propitiated. Then, the constancy of thy continued friendship, 
which commenced with me before thy birth, 11 moved thee in 
my favour ; both because, whereas thou didst become so to 
others, to me thou wast born a friend ; and because, in the 
cradle, I gave thee the first kisses. And, whereas, thy family 
was ever revered by me, from my tenderest years, now in my 

10 The grandson of JEacusP^ — Ver. 41. Achilles; who avenged the 
death of his friend Patroclus, by resuming the arms which he had laid 
aside, and slaying Hector. 

11 Before thy birth.'] — Ver. 70. He alludes to his former intimacy with 
the father of Maximus. 



E. ill.] OF OYID. 403 

old age, I am compelled to become a burden to thee. 'Twas 
thy father, the embodiment ofsm eloquence in the Latian lan- 
guage, that was not less, in degree, than the nobleness of his 
birth, that first urged me to dare to trust my verses to Fame ; 
he was the guide of my genius. I assert, too, that thy brother 
cannot recollect at what time he first enjoyed my friendship. 
But, thee, before all, did I so embrace, that thou, alone, 
mightst be my comfort in any calamity. The extreme shores 
of Italy 12 saw me together with thee, and received the tears 
that fell down my sorrowing cheeks ; at the time, when, as 
thou didst enquire whether the news was true, which an evil 
report of my error had circulated, I was hesitating, in doubt 
whether to confess, in doubt whether to deny, while alarm 
showed the marks of fear ; and, just like the snow, which the 
watery South wind melts, the starting tear was trickling down 
my affrighted cheeks. Calling these things, then, to memory ; 
and because thou seeest that the charges against me can be 
veiled under the forgiveness of a first error ; thou regardest 
thy former friend amid the wreck of his fortunes ; and thou 
soothest my wounds with thy consolations. In return for 
this, if I might be allowed to form a wish, I would pray a 
thousand blessings for thee, so well deserving of them. 

But, if wishes entertained by thee, are alone granted me, then 
I will pray that Caesar and thy mother too, may live long in 
health. This is the request, that I remember thou wast wont first 
to make of the Gods, when thou didst sacrifice upon the altars, 
rich with frankincense. 



EPISTLE IV.— TO ATTICXJS. 

He calls to recollection his ancient friendship with Atticus, and the plea- 
sant hours they had spent together ; he tells him that he is persuaded 
of the continuance of his attachment, although he is far distant, and 
entreats him to continue his friendship towards him. 

Receive the converse of Naso from the freezing Danube, 
Atticus, in my estimation one not to be doubted. And dost 
thou still bear in memory thy unhappy friend ? or is weak- 
ened affection deserting its post ? The Gods are not so far 

12 Extreme shores of Italy. .] — Ver. 84. He alludes very probably to 
Brundisium, to which place Maximus had perhaps accompanied him when 
embarking for his place of banishment. 

dd2 



404 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. II. 

hostile to me that I could believe it, or suppose it possible 
that thou dost not now remember me. Before my eyes thy 
form stands, and is ever there ; and mentally, I seem to be- 
hold thy features. I call to recollection many an hour of 
seriousness that has been spent by me together with thee ; 
and no few occasions that have been devoted to pleasing 
sportiveness. Often did the hours seem too short-lived for 
our prolonged conversation ; often was the day shorter than 
was my discourse. Often did my verses, but just composed, 
come to thy ears, and my new-born Muse was submitted to 
thy judgment. What thou wast wont to praise, I used to 
think would please the public ; that was the delightful reward 
of my recent labours. And as my book was corrected by the 
criticism of my friend, many a time was an erasure made at 
thy suggestion. 

Together did the market-places behold us, and every por- 
tico, the streets, and the curving theatres, our seats being 
next to each other. In fact, dearest friend, as great was the 
affection between us, as between the grandson of iEacus and 
the grandson of Actor. I could not believe, even shouldst 
thou drink the cup of Lethe, that banishes care, that these 
things could fade from thy memory. Sooner shall the long 
days arrive under the Constellation of midwinter, and the 
nights of the summer solstice shall be more tardy than those 
of winter ; Babylon shall experience no heat, Pontus no cold, 
and the marigold shall surpass the roses of Psestum in fra- 
grance ; than forgetfulness of my fortunes shall overtake thee. 
Not to that extent is no part of my destiny happy. But be 
it thy care that this confidence be not pronounced unfounded, 
and called a silly credulity : defend, too, thy old friend with 
firm constancy, so far as thou canst, and so far as I shall be 
no burden to thee. 



EPISTLE V.— TO SALANUS. 

He acknowledges his gratitude to Salanus, in return for the sorrow he 
manifested on his banishment, although they were not intimately ac- 
quainted ; and returns him thanks for the praises he had bestowed on 
his verses. He requests him, if his book on the Triumph of Tiberius 
should come under his notice, to favour it with his protection ; and 
concludes, by enlarging upon the natural ties that exist between persons 
devoted to the different branches of literature. 

I Naso, have here sent to my friend Salanus my words formed 



E. v.] OF OVID. 405 

into unequal numbers, prefacing them with my salutation. I 
desire it may obtain its fulfilment ; and that it may realize its 
good omen by facts, I pray that this may be read by thee, my 
friend, in good health. Thy sincerity, a thing almost extinct 
in these days, requires me to form such wishes. For, although 
I was known to thee by but a slight acquaintanceship, thou 
art said to have lamented over my banishment ; and when 
thou didst read my verses, sent from the far distant Pontus, 
thy kindness defended them, such as they were. Thou, too, 
didst wish that the wrath of the favoured Caesar against me, 
would be but short-lived ; and, did he know it, he himself 
would allow of such a wish. Of thy own natural excellence, 
hast thou conceived wishes so kind ; and not the less pleasing 
are they to me, on that account. 

And 'tis worthy of belief, most learned one, that thou art 
the more moved by my misfortunes, through the nature of 
this place. In the whole world (believe me) thou couldst 
scarcely find a spot which, less than this, enjoys Peace, the 
gift of Augustus. But here thou readest verses composed 
amid direful battles, and, as thou readest, thou approvest of 
them with favouring lips. Thou praisest, too, my genius, 
which flows with but an humble stream, and of a brook thou 
makest great rivers. This approval is, indeed, pleasing to my 
spirit ; although thou canst hardly suppose that the wretched 
can be productive of pleasure for themselves. But as long as 
I attempt verses upon humble subjects, my ability is equal to 
my scanty matter. Lately, when the fame of the great tri- 
umph reached here, I dared to commence upon a work of so 
great importance. The magnitude and the splendour of the 
subject overwhelmed me, while thus daring ; and I was unable 
to endure the burden of my enterprize. There, will be found 
duteous attention on my part, for thee to praise ; all the rest 
is deficient, being weakened by the subject-matter. And if, 
perchance, my book has come to thy ears, I request that it 
may experience thy protection. Let regard for me be added as 
some small obligation by thee, who would have done this, 
even if I myself had not entreated thee. It is not I that de- 
serve the praise, but His thy heart, more unspotted than milk, 
and than the untrodden snow. Thou admirest others, when 
thou thyself art the object of admiration ; neither thy learn- 
ing nor thy eloquence can be concealed. The Prince of the 



406 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. it. 

youths, 13 to whom Germany gives a name, is wont to have thee, 
as a companion in his studies. Thou, his companion of old, 
thou, united to him from his earliest years, delightest him by 
thy genius, that equals thy virtues. As thou declaimest, the 
inspiration immediately rises in him : and he has thee to elicit 
his words by thy own. When thou hast ceased, and the 
lips of men are at rest, and when thus shut they have no 
long time been silent ; the youth arises that is worthy of the 
surname of lulus, just as the light-bearing star arises from 
out of the Eastern wave. And while he silently stands, his 
carriage and his aspect are those of a man of eloquence, and 
his becoming dress creates the expectation of a graceful de- 
livery. Then, when delay is put an end to, and his heavenly 
mouth is opened, you could swear that in this manner the 
Gods above are wont to speak ; and you would say, " This is 
eloquence befitting a Prince, so much nobleness is there in 
his language." Although thou art thus pleasing to him, and 
touchest the stars with thy head, thou still thinkest that the 
writings of the exiled Poet are worthy to be had. In truth, 
there is a certain alliance between kindred spirits, and each 
one cherishes the ties of his own pursuit. The rustic loves 
the husbandman ; the soldier him that wages the cruel war ; the 
helmsman the pilot of the veering ship. Thou too, lover of 
study, art influenced with a love for the Pierian maids, and, 
thou dost, man of genius, feel sympathy for my genius. Our 
occupations are different ; but they arise from the same source, 
and each of us is the cultivator of a liberal art. For the 
thyrsus 14 has been wielded by thee, the laurel by me ; but en- 
thusiasm ought to belong to us both. And as thy eloquence 
gives vigour to my numbers ; so from us poets comes the 
requisite polish for thy language. 

With reason, then, dost thou think that verses are on the 
confines of thy pursuits, and that the ties of communion in 
study ought to be defended. In return for this, I pray that he, 
with whose acquaintanceship thou art honoured, may remain 

13 Prince of the youths.'] — Ver. 41. Germanicus. 

14 The thyrsus."] — Ver. 67. This was a staff surrounded with leaves 
of the vine and the ivy, which the Bacchanals waved when performing the 
rites of Bacchus. It was deemed the emblem of eloquence ; the laurel was 
the characteristic of poetic excellence. 



B, v.] OF OYID. 407 

thy friend to the last moments of thy life ; and that he may 
succeed to guide the reins of the world, that belong to thee, 
Augustus: a thing which the prayers of the public also entreat. 



EPISTLE VI.— TO GR^CINUS. 

He entreats Graecinus not to censure his fault, which he has already ad- 
mitted, since what has been done cannot be undone. He entreats him, 
rather to aid him in his misfortunes, than to persist in condemnation 
of him ; at the same time, he acknowledges, with gratitude, the kind 
sympathy that he has manifested towards him. 

The sorrowing Naso, who formerly was wont, personally with 
his voice, to do so, salutes Greecinus from the Euxine waves. 
This is the voice of the exile. This letter finds me a tongue, 
and were I not allowed to write, I should be dumb. Thou 
blamest, as thou oughtst, the offence of thy foolish companion ; 
and thou teachest me to endure woes inferior to my deserts. 
Thou utterest a rebuke against my fault, true indeed, but tardy. 
Cease harsh expressions, to a criminal who has made his con- 
fession. So long as I was able to pass by Ceraunia 15 with a 
steady sail, I was to be advised how to avoid the dangerous 
rocks. Of what use is it to me now, when my shipwreck has 
happened, to learn what course my bark ought to steer? 
Rather extend thy arms, to be grasped by the weary swimmer, 
and think it no trouble to place thy hands under my chin. 
And so thou dost, and so, I pray, continue to do. May 
thy mother and thy wife, may thy brother and all *thy family 
be prospering. And — what thou art wont to pray in thy spirit, 
and ever with thy voice — mayst thou, in all thy actions, meet 
with the approval of the Ceesars. 'Twould be a disgrace for 
thee to have given no aid, in any degree, to thy old friend, in 
his afflicted circumstances. 'Tis a disgrace to turn back 
again, and not to stand with a firm attitude ; 16 'tis a disgrace 
to desert the ship in distress ; 'tis a disgrace to follow chance, 
and to yield to fortune, and to deny that a person is one's 

15 Ceraunia.] — Ver. 9. These, which are also sometimes called Acro- 
ceraunia, were high rocks, which formed a very dangerous promontory of 
Epirus. 

16 With a firm attitude.'] — Ver. 21. ' Passu/ literally, ' step ;' but, ' to 
stand with firm step,' in our language, would be amenable to the charge 
of being paradoxical. 



408 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. II. 

friend, unless he is prosperous. Not so lived the sons of 
Strophius and of Agamemnon ; such were not the ties of the 
son of iEgeus and Pirithoiis. These a past age has admired, 
and a succeeding age will admire ; in their applause, whole 
theatres re-echo. 

Thou too, art worthy, having served thy friend in his ad- 
versity, to reckon thy name among heroes so great Thou art 
worthy of it : and since thou deservest praise for thy attach- 
ment, my gratitude for thy affection shall not prove dumb. Be- 
lieve me (if my verses shall not perish), thou shalt be often on 
the lips of posterity. Only do, Greecinus, remain constant to me, 
thus ruined ; and let that warmth of feeling endure for many a 
day. Although thou dost grant this, still do I use my oars 17 in 
the breeze. There is no harm in giving spur to a horse even at 
full speed. 



EPISTLE VII.— TO ATTICUS. 

After saluting his friend, he inquires what he is doing, and whether he 
retains his former affection for him ; he complains of his sad fortune, 
and laments his innumerable woes. He says, that amid so many evils, 
hope is his only consolation ; and entreats him to adhere to his deter- 
mination, not to abandon his friend. 

This letter of mine, Atticus, sent from amid the half-subdued 
Getee, first bids thee to be saluted ; next follows the pleasure 
of hearing what thou art doing ; and if, whatever thou art 
doing, thiu still hast regard for me. I doubt not but thou 
hast ; but the very dread of evils often compels me to enter- 
tain unnecessary fears. Pardon me, I pray, and forgive my 
excess of apprehension : the shipwrecked man dreads the 
waves, even when calm. The fish that has once been hurt by 
the lurking hook, thinks that the barbed brass is concealed in 
every morsel ; oft does the lamb fly from the dog, seen afar, 
and believes it to be the wolf, and unknowingly, shuns its 
own protector ; the wounded limb shudders at even a gentle 
touch ; and the unsubstantial shadow strikes alarm in the ap- 
prehensive. So I, pierced with the cruel darts of Fortune, con- 

17 Use my oars.~] — Ver. 37. His meaning is, that although his friend 
Graecinus entertains the kindest feelings, and proffers his assistance to the 
best of his ability, his request that he will continue to do so ought to do 
him no more injury than if he were to use his cars when a favourable 
breeze was blowing. 



e. vii.] or ovid. 409 

ceive in my breast nothing but sadness. Now I feel assured 
that my destiny, preserving the course it had commenced, will 
always pursue the paths to which it has accustomed itself. J 
think that the Gods keep watch, that nothing may turn out to 
my advantage ; and I hardly think that Fortune can be de- 
ceived ; she has a determination to ruin me, and she who was 
once wont to be tickle, is now constant and well-assured in her 
hostility. Believe me, if I am known to thee to be of truth- 
ful speech, no deceit can there be in my misfortunes. Sooner 
wilt thou reckon the ears of the Cinyphian 18 standing corn, 
and with how many sprigs of thyme the lofty Hybla is bloom- 
ing ; sooner wilt thou ascertain for certain, how many birds are 
soaring in the air on the wing, and how many fishes are swim- 
ming in the sea, than the amount of my troubles can be reck- 
oned, which I have endured by land and by sea. There is no 
nation, in all the world, more savage than the Getse, and yet 
even these have lamented over my calamities. Did I attempt 
to enumerate them to thee, in exact lines, 'twould be a long 
Iliad on my destinies. I fear not, then, because I suppose thee 
to give grounds for fear, whose love has afforded me a thou- 
sand pledges ; but, because every one in misery is but a timid 
creature, and because for a long time the door has been shut 
against my happiness. Sorrow has now become a habit with 
me ; as rocks are hollowed out by the constant contact of 
the falling water, so am I wounded by the lasting blows of 
Fortune ; and scarcely can a fresh wound find on me any 
spot unharmed. Not more is the plough consumed by con- 
tinual use ; not more has the Appian way been worn by the 
curving wheels, than my heart has been overpowered by its 
series of ills ; and nothing have I found to give me relief. 

Glory has been attained by many through the liberal arts ; I 
myself have been undone by my own endowments. My former 
life is without fault, and has been spent without a blemish ; yet 
that gave me no aid in my distress. Many a time is a serious fault 
pardoned at the entreaties of one's friends : in my behalf all 
influence was dumb. In adverse circumstances, to be present 
is of use to others ; this tremendous storm has overwhelmed 

' ls Cinyphian.'] — Ver. 25. This epithet signifies ' Libyan ;' astheCinyps 
was a river of that region, running through a tract of country which was 
extremely prolific in corn. Libya was frequently styled ' the granary of 
Rome. 



410 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. II. 

this head of mine in my absence. Who has not dreaded even 
the silent wrath of Caesar ? Harsh expressions have formed 
an addition to my punishment. Banishment is sometimes made 
more tolerable by its season ; I, cast upon the ocean, have been 
exposed to Arcturus, and the threats of the Pleiades. Ships are 
wont often to experience a calm winter ; to the bark of the 
Ithacan the waves were not more boisterous. The faithful at- 
tachment of one's companions would have been able to alleviate 
evils of such magnitude ; a perfidious set were enriched by my 
spoils. The place makes exile more endurable ; no land, more 
repulsive than this, lies extended beneath the two poles. 'Tis 
something to be near the confines of one's country; a most 
remote region, the end of the earth, confines me. Thy laurels, 
too, Caesar, ensure peace to the exiled ; the Pontic land lies 
exposed to the neighbouring foe. 'Tis pleasant to pass one's 
time in the cultivation of the land ; the barbarian enemy allows 
not the ground to be turned up. Both the body and the spirit 
are refreshed by a temperate climate ; the Sarmatian shores 
are frozen with everlasting cold. In pure water there is a 
comfort that is begrudged to none ; here, the water of the 
marsh is drunk, mixed with the brine of the sea. 

I am deficient in all comforts ; and yet my spirit subdues 
everything ; for 'tis that which makes even my body to exert 
its strength. To sustain one's burden, you must strive with 
the head fully erect ; but, should you suffer the muscles to bend, 
it will fall. Hope too, that the wrath of the Prince may be 
moderated in length of time, prevents me from desiring not to 
live, and from utterly perishing. And no little consolation do 
you afford me, ye few friends, whose attachment has been proved 
throughout my misfortunes. Persist in thy resolves, I pray, 
and abandon not my bark on the ocean ; and preserve both 
thy regard for me, and for the opinion that thou hast formed. 



EPISTLE VIIL— TO MAXIMUS COTTA. 

He thanks Cotta for having sent him the likenesses of Augustus, Caesar, 
Livia, and Tiberius ; and says, that as he is forbidden to behold the 
originals, he will pay his adoration to their resemblances. He then ex- 
presses his hope that they will grant him a more endurable place for 
his banishment ; and that they will not suffer their likenesses to remain 
in a place which must be displeasing to them. 

The one Csesar with the other, Gods whose likenesses thou 
didst lately send me, have arrived safe, Maximus Cotta ; and, 



E. viii.] OE OYID. 411 

that thy present may embrace the number that it ought, Livia 
is there, added to her Caesars. Happy is the silver, and more 
blest than any gold, which, when in its rough state it had its 
value, will now be as a Divinity to me. By presenting me with 
riches, thou couldst not have given me greater wealth, than 
these three Divinities, that have been set before my face. 'Tis 
something to behold the Gods, and to think that they are pre- 
sent, and to be able to converse as though with the real Divi- 
nity. How great a gift, ye Gods ! The remotest region does 
not confine me now; and once again, as formerly, I live in 
safety in the midst of the City. I see the features of Caesar, as 
I formerly used to see them ; scarcely did I hope for the ful- 
filment of that prayer ; and, as once I did, so now I salute the 
heavenly Divinity. Thou hast nothing preferable, I think, that 
thou couldst offer me on my return. What is wanting to my eyes, 
but the Palace alone ? a place which, if Csesar is away, becomes 
worthless. When I look upon him, I seem to be beholding 
Rome; for in himself he bears the majestic features of his country. 
Am I deceived ; or are the features frowning upon me in 
the likeness, and has the stern figure a certain threatening 
aspect? Pardon me, thou hero, by thy virtues elevated 
above the immense world, and draw in the avenging reins of 
thy retribution. Pardon me, I pray, thou everlasting glory of 
our age; whom his own watchfulness makes to be the ruler of 
the world. By the name of thy country, which is dearer to 
thee than thyself; by the Gods, who are never deaf to thy 
prayers ; by the partner of thy bed, who alone has been found 
worthy of thee, and to whom thy majesty of character has not 
proved a source of anxiousness ; 19 by thy son, like to thee in 
the resemblance of his virtues, and who, by his morals, can be 
recognized as belonging to thee ; and by thy grandsons, 
worthy both of their grandsire, and of their father, and who, by 
rapid strides, are realizing thy wishes ; do, but in a very small 
degree, alleviate my punishment and moderate it ; and grant 
me a place afar from the Scythian foe. And, (if so it may be), 
thou, Caesar, that art next after Csesar Augustus ! be thy Divi- 

19 A source of anxiousness.] — Ver. 30. The meaning of this phrase is 
somewhat obscure ; but he seems to imply that Livia was naturally so 
graceful, and so well prepared to adapt herself to circumstances, that she 
did not feel herself overpowered by the elevated position to which she had 
been raised. 



41 2 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. II. 

nity not hostile to these my entreaties. May, ere long, savage 
Germany be borne, with timorous features, before thy trium- 
phant horses. May thy father live to the years of the Pylian 
Nestor, thy mother to those of the Cumeean Sibyl, and long 
mayst thou remain a son. And thou, fitting wife for a husband 
so mighty, listen with no obdurate ears to the entreaties of me, 
a suppliant. Then may thy husband be ever prosperous ; then, 
with thy children, may thy grandsons, and together with thy 
daughters-in-law, the children which those daughters-in-law have 
borne, be prosperous. Then may Drusus, whom cruel Germany 
snatched from thee, be the only portion of thy progeny to perish; 
then, may thy son, clad in purple, press on his snow-white steeds, 
in his warfare the avenger of his brother's death. Accede, ye 
most merciful Divinities, to these my timorous prayers; may it be 
of some advantage to me, to have the Gods in my presence. On 
the approach of Caesar, the gladiator quits the entire arena, and 
his countenance affords no slight aid. Let it be of some benefit 
to me as well, that, so far as I can, I behold your features ; since 
one house has been visited by three Divinities. Blessed are they 
who behold, not the resemblance, but the originals ; and who, 
face to face, see the real persons of the Gods. And since un- 
kind fate has denied me this, I worship with my prayers what 
art has granted me, the resemblance of them. "Tis thus that 
men are acquainted with the Gods whom the lofty skies con- 
ceal ; and in place of Jove, the form of Jove is venerated. 
Lastly, have ye a care that your likenesses, which are, and 
which ever shall be, in my possession, be not in a place displeas- 
ing to you. For my head shall sooner part from my neck, and 
sooner will I allow my eyes to leave my gouged cheeks, than 
I will part with you torn from me, ye Gods of the common- 
wealth. You shall be my harbour, and the altar of my exile. 
You will I embrace, if I am surrounded with the Getic arms ; 
you will I follow as my eagles, you as my standards. 

Either I deceive myself, and am deluded by my excessive 
longing, or a hope does suggest itself, of a more desirable place 
of banishment ; for less and less stern are the features in the 
likeness, and the countenance appears to assent to my requests. 
May the presages of my anxious mind be truthful, I pray ; 
and, just though it be, may the wrath of the Divinity become 
moderated. 



or oyid. 413 



EPISTLE IX.— TO KING COTYS. 

He writes to Cotys, the King of Tlirace ; and, after extolling the nobility 
of his descent, he tells him that it is the duty of Gods and of Monarchs 
to succour the distressed ; and that, as Cotys himself is a poet, he has 
a double claim on him. He entreats him to show him kindness and hos- 
pitality in the misery attendant upon his exile. 

Cotys, offspring of kings, the origin of whose noble race ex- 
tends even to the name of Eumolpus ; 20 if garrulous report has 
now reached thy ears, that I am lying prostrate in a part of 
the earth that is neighbouring to thee ; listen, most merciful 
of youths, to the voice of a suppliant ; and give that aid which 
thou canst to me, an exile (for such thou canst do). Fortune has 
delivered me to thee ; this is a thing on which I shall make 
no complaint ; in this thing alone, she has proved not hostile 
to me. Receive my wrecked ship on no inhospitable shore, 
that the waves may not prove safer to me than the land. 

'Tis a regal thing (believe me) to assist the distressed ; and it 
befits so great a man as thou thyself art. This becomes thy 
fortune, which, glorious though it be, can hardly prove itself 
equal to thy greatness of soul. Power is never beheld under 
circumstances more favourable, than as oft as it does not allow 
entreaties to be in vain. This the splendour of thy family re- 
quires ; this is the task of a nobleness derived from the Gods 
above. This course, Eumolpus, the most illustrious founder of 
thy family, and Ericthonius, 21 who was before Eumolpus, recom- 
mend to thee. This thou hast in common with the Deity ; that 
both of you, when entreated, are wont to give aid to those 
who supplicate you. For what reason would there be for us 
to worship the Deities with the usual rites, if you deny that 
the Gods are inclined to assist us ? If Jupiter will turn a 

20 Eumolpus.'] — Ver. 2. He was a son of Neptune and Chione, and 
reigned over the kingdom of Thrace. Aiding the Eleusinians against the 
Athenians, he was slain by Erectheus, as we learn from Apollodorus. The 
king Cotys, to whom this epistle is addressed, is, by some, supposed to 
have been the same person that is mentioned by Suetonius, under the name 
of Cotiso. 

21 Ericthonius, .] — Ver. 20. He was one of the early kings of Athens, 
and succeeded Amphictyon, whom he expelled. He was fabled to have 
had the tail of a dragon for his lower extremities, and to have enjoyed the 
favour and patronage of Minerva. He was the ancestor of Chione, the 
mother of Eumolpus. 



414 THE PONTIC EPISTLES (b. II. 

deaf ear to him that entreats, why should the stricken victim 
fall before the temple of Jupiter ? If the sea will give me no 
rest on my voyage, why should I offer the useless Iranian - 
cense to Neptune ? Why should Ceres receive the entrails of 
a pregnant sow, if she denies the unavailing prayer of the 
toiling husbandman ? No he-goat will, as a victim, present 
his throat to the long-haired Bacchus, if no new wine flows 
under the pressure of the foot. I pray that Csesar will guide 
the reins of empire, because so well does he consult the ad- 
vantage of his country. 'Tis interest, then, that renders both 
men and Gods illustrious ; each of us esteeming his own 
especial benefactor. And do thou, Cotys, offspring worthy 
of thy parent, give some assistance to one who lies prostrate 
within thy camp. 'Tis a becoming pleasure for one man to 
save another ; and by no act is favour more readily sought. 
Who does not execrate Antiphates the Lsestrygon ? Or who 
disapproves of the manners of the munificent Aleinous ? 22 He 
of Cassandria 23 is not thy father, or one of the race of Pheree ; 2i 
or he who roasted the inventor in his own contrivance ; but 
one, as valiant in battle, and as unused to be subdued in arms, 
as he is averse to bloodshed, when peace is concluded. 

Besides, to have thoroughly studied the liberal arts, softens 
the manners, and suffers them not to be brutal. And no king 
has been better prepared by them than thou, or has given more 
time to the pursuits of peace. Thy verses testify this ; if thou 
wast to conceal thy name, I should not say that a young man 
of Thrace had composed them. That Orpheus might not be 
the only poet of this region, the Bistonian land is rendered 
proud by thy genius. And, as thou hast the courage, when 
circumstances demand it, to take up arms, and to stain thy 
hands with the blood of the enemy ; and as thou art skilled 
at hurling the javelin with thy extended arm, and at guiding 

22 Aleinous.'] — Ver. 42. He was a king of the Phoeacians, who most 
hospitably entertained Ulysses when he was shipwrecked on his coasts. 

23 He of Cassandria.] — Ver. 43. This is supposed to refer to Apollo- 
dorus, a bloodthirsty tyrant of Cassandria, in Macedonia, who, in revenge 
for his cruelties, was first flayed alive, then thrown into a boiling caul- 
dron, and while still living, entombed. His character, as remarkable for 
cruelty, is often referred to by the classical writers. 

24 Race of Pher<z.~\ — Ver. 43. Alexander, the tyrant of Pherae, in Thes- 
saly, was also noted for his cruelties, and was slain by his wife Thebe, with 
the assistance of her brothers. 



e. ix.] or oyid. 415 

the neck of the swift steed ; so, when due time has been de- 
voted to the pursuits of thy country, and when the task of 
valour is at rest from off thy shoulders, peculiarly its own ; 
in order that thy hours of retirement may not waste away 
in sluggish sleep, thou seekest the bright stars by the 
path of the Pierian maids. This thing, too, creates some tie 
between thee and me : we are both of us worshippers at the 
same rites. To a poet, do I, a poet, extend my arms in sup- 
plication, that thy land may prove hospitable to my exile. 
I have not come to the Pontic shores as one guilty of murder, 
nor have any fell poisons been mixed by my hand ; and no 
seal of mine has been convicted of impressing a forged mark 
on strings within which any documents are enclosed. 25 Nor 
have I done any thing, which I am forbidden by the laws to 
do ; and yet, a graver fault than all these must be confessed 
by me. 

But, lest thou shouldst ask what it is, I have written a silly 
work on the Art of Love. 'Tis that, which forbids my hands 
to be guiltless. But ask not on what other subject I have 
erred ; and let my fault be concealed under my Art of Love 
alone. Whatever it is, I have been sensible of the modera- 
tion of the anger of the avenger, who has deprived me of 
nothing but the land of my birth. Since I am deprived of 
that, let thy vicinity now cause me to be in safety in this 
hated place. 

25 Documents are enclosed.} — Ver. 69. * Subjecta tabella ;' literally, ' a 
tablet being placed underneath.' The 'tabulae/ or 'tabellae,' were thin 
pieces of wood, often of an oblong shape, covered over with wax, on which 
an impression was traced with the iron * stilus ' These tablets were also 
made of ivory, but more frequently of citron-wood, beech, or fir. The in- 
side only of the tablet was covered with wax, the outer part consisting 
solely of wood. The leaves were fastened with wires at the back, and 
opened and shut, like in the books of the present dayc There was a raised 
margin to each leaf of the tablet (similar to our school slates), to prevent the 
wax of the one from rubbing against the other. From two to five, six, or 
even more of these leaves, were joined together. Two being so joined, 
were called ' diptucha,' three, ' triptycha,' and so on.- Those tablets which 
contained legal documents, such as wills, had the outer edges pierced 
with holes, through which a triple thread, or string, * linum,' was passed, 
on which a seal was then placed, to guard against forgery, and, without 
which, the document was not considered to be legally executed. To this 
custom the poet here refers, in saying that the crime of forgery cannot be 
imputed to him, as the cause of his banishment. 



416 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [ B . tl. 



EPISTLE X.— TO MACER. 

Writing to the poet Macer, he sets forth many reasons why he should 
remember him and their former terms of intimacy ; and he says, that if 
he recals the many happy hours they once spent together, he will 
seem to he ever present before his eyes. He concludes by entreating 
him never to forget him at any future time. 

Dost thou know, Macer, from the impression of the seal 
affixed, that it is Naso who writes to thee these words ? And if 
the seal ring is not the discoverer of the writer, are these letters, 
written with my own hand, recognized by thee ? or does length 
of time deprive thee of the recollection of them, and do thy 
eyes fail to recall to memory the ancient characters ? Although 
thou mayst have forgotten both my seal and my handwriting, 
I only hope that love of me has not forsaken thee. This thou 
owest both to the intimacy of a length of years, and to the 
fact, that my wife is no stranger to thee, and to thy pursuits 
which thou hast followed with more prudence than I have, and 
hast not been guilty of any Art of Love, as became thee. Thou 
singest whatever was left undone by the immortal Homer ; that 
the Trojan wars may not be without a finishing hand. 26 

Naso, a proficient of little prudence, while he is pro- 
ducing the Art of Love, receives a sad reward for his learning. 
Yet with poets there are common ties among themselves, al- 
though we each of us pursue our separate path. Of these, 
though I am far away, I suspect that thou art not forgetful, 
and that thou hast a desire to alleviate my calamities. Under 
thy guidance, I beheld the magnificent cities of Asia ; under 
thy guidance, Trinacria was viewed by my eyes. We beheld 
the heavens glowing with the flames of iEtna, which the Giant, 
placed beneath the^mountain, belches from his mouth ; and the 
lakes of Henna, and the fetid pools of Paiicus, 27 and the spot 
where Anapus joins Cyane with its waters ; and, not far thence, 
the Nymph, who, as she flies from the river of Elis, runs, 

26 A finishing hand.'] — Ver. 14. Homer concludes the Iliad, after the 
death of Hector. Macer had commenced his poem at that period, bringing 
it down to the taking of Troy. 

2 " Fetid pools of Paiicus.'] — Ver. 25. There were two brothers, named 
the Palici, said by some writers to have been the sons of Jupiter ; but, 
according to Hesychius, the name of their father was Adranus. From 
them, two sulphureous lakes of Sicily received the name of Paiicus. 



k. x.] OF OYTD. 41/ 

under cover, even beneath the waves of the sea. Here, a large 
portion of the passing year was spent by me. Alas ! how 
unlike is that region to the Getic land ! And, how small a 
part is this, of the things which we saw together, as thou didst 
render the journey delightful to me; whether we were plough- 
ing the azure waves, in the painted ship, or whether the two- 
wheeled chaise 28 bore us, with its active wheels. Often did our 
journey appear short, by our interchange of conversation; and, 
shouldst thou number them, our words were more numerous 
than our steps. Often was the daytime too short for our dis- 
course; and, while talking, the long hours of the summer day 
proved too short. 5 Tis something, together, to have dreaded 
the dangers of the sea, and to have offered our united prayers 
to the Gods of the ocean ; to have, at one time, transacted 
business together, and to be able to recall to memory, at 
another time, the sallies of wit that followed it, and of which 
we need not be ashamed. If these things recur to thee, 
though I am far away, at all hours shall I be before thy eyes, 
as though that moment seen. 

I myself, indeed, though I am under the sky of the ex- 
tremity of the world, which always stands aloof from the 
flowing waters, still regard thee with the only feelings that 
I can, and often do I converse with thee, under that freez- 
ing firmament. Thou art here, and thou knowest it not ; thou 
art, while absent, repeatedly present : and thou comest, be- 
held by me, from the midst of the City among the Getae. 
Make me some return ; and since that place is a more happy 
one, ever retain me there, in thy constant breast. 

28 The two-wheeled chaise.'] — Ver. 34. 'Esseda.' 'Essedum,' or 'esseda,' 
was originally the name of the chariots which were used by the natives of 
Britain and Gaul in warfare. The Romans copied their form for the 
purposes of luxury and convenience ; and the use of them, in the time 
of Seneca, was very general in Rome. The * esseda ' were always drawn 
by two horses, and they are supposed to have been kept in readiness for 
hire, at the post-houses or stations, and to have been similar to the ' covi- 
nus,' except that the latter had a cover. 



E E 



[18 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. 



EPISTLE XL— TO RUFUS. 

The Poet is here writing to Rufus Fundanus, the uncle of his wife ; he 
tells him, that, distant as he is, he is fully sensible of his kindness ; 
and he prays the Gods to grant him a commensurate return for his 
affection. 

Naso, the author of the Art of Love, an unfortunate work, 
sends thee this book, hurried off in a short space of time ; 
that, although we are separated by the wide distance of the 
whole world, thou mightst be enabled to perceive that I keep 
thee hi remembrance. 

Sooner shall forgetfulness of my own name come upon me, 
than thy affection be banished from my breast. And sooner 
will I give up this breath to the vacant air, than the grateful 
recollection of thy kindness shall fade. I esteem the tears with 
which thou didst moisten thy face, w 7 hen my own was dry in 
tearless grief, a great mark of kindness. I call thy consola- 
tion to a distressed mind, a great mark of kindness ; when 
thou didst afford it, both to me and to thyself. Of her own 
accord, indeed, and of herself, my wife is deserving of all 
praise ; still by thy admonition is she improved. For, what 
Castor was to Flermione, 29 Hector to lulus, the same do I 
congratulate myself that thou art to my wife. Not to be un- 
like thee in virtue, is her aim ; and by her life does she prove 
that she is of thy family. Therefore, what she would have 
done without any persuasion, the same does she do more 
abundantly, having found thee as an encourager. The steed 
that is thorough-bred, and that of itself would gain the 
honours of victory in the race, if you encourage it, will run 
even more swiftly. Besides, thou dost perform my requests, 
thus absent, with faithful diligence, and thou deemest it 
no trouble to bear any burden. Oh ! may the Gods give thee 
a recompense, since I myself cannot : the Gods, who will re- 
ward, if they witness acts of affection. May thy body, too, 
last long, for the practice of those virtues, Rufus, thou greatest 
glory of the Fundanian soil. 30 

29 To Hermione,~] — Ver. 15. Hermione was the daughter of Helen, 
consequently Castor and Pollux were her uncles. 

3U Fundanian scil.] — Ver. 30. Fundi was a town of Campania, and was 
the native place of Rufus. 



or oyid. 419 



BOOK THE THIRD. 



EPISTLE I.— TO HIS WIFE. 

He enlarges upon the misery he endures in the region of Pontus; and he tells 
his wife, that it is not to be wondered at, if he desires a more tranquil 
place for his banishment ; and that, as a good wife, it is her duty to 
exert all her energies in his behalf. He requests her to make applica- 
tion to Livia, the wife of Augustus, upon whose kindness of disposition 
he expatiates. He begs his wife to choose a fitting opportunity, and in- 
structs her how she must act, and what request she is to make. 

Thou sea, for the first time set in motion by the oars of Jason, 
and thou land, which art devoid of neither the savage foe, nor of 
perpetual snow, when will the time come, when I, Naso, shall 
leave you, being commanded to go to a region less exposed to 
the enemy ? Or am I ever to live amid this barbarism ? And 
must I be entombed in the soil of Tomi ? With no desire to 
disturb thy peace 1 (if, land of Pontus, there is any peace for 
thee, whom the neighbouring foe is for ever trampling under 
his swift steed), with thy leave, I would say, thou art the most 
intolerable part of my wretched banishment : thou dost aggra- 
vate my woes. Thou dost neither feel the Spring bedecked 
with the flowery wreaths, neither dost thou behold the naked 
bodies of the reapers. For thee no Autumn holds forth the 
clustering grapes ; but all seasons retain an intense cold. 
Thou keepest the sea bound up with ice, and often, in the ocean, 
does the fish swim inclosed in the covered water. Thou 
hast no springs, except of running water, almost as salt as the 

1 With no desire to disturb thy peace.'] — Ver. 7. ' Pace tua;' literally, 

* with thy peace,' corresponds with our expression, ' by,' or ' with your 
leave.' It is, however, necessary here to render it as above, to give full 
effect to the reference which the Poet immediately makes to the mention of 

* peace.' His grief did not entirely preclude his indulgence in the pleasures 
of punning. 

E E 2 



420 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. hi. 

sea, and it is a matter of doubt whether that quenches thirst, 
or increases it. But few trees, and those of no strong growth, 
appear in the open country, and on the dry land is beheld an 
exact resemblance of the sea. No bird warbles forth its notes, 
unless, perchance, in the distant forest, a few drink the water 
of the ocean, with croaking throat. The bitter wormwood 
grows prickly along the unproductive plains, a harvest, in 
its bitterness, fitting to the place of its growth. Add, too, 
continual alarms, and the attacks of the fortifications by the 
enemy, and how the arrow, dipped in the deadly venom, reeks 
with it ; that this region is afar, and distant from every route, 
and is a place where one can travel in safety neither on foot, 
nor on board ship. 'Tis not, then, to be wondered at, if a 
different spot is repeatedly requested by me, as I seek to put 
an end to these evils. It is still more strange, my wife, that 
you cannot obtain this favour, and that you can withhold your 
tears at my woes. Do you enquire what you are to do? You 
may ask that, forsooth ; you will find out, if you really wish 
to know. To be willing is a slight matter : to obtain a thing, 
you must set your heart upon it, and this anxiety must curtail 
your moments of sleep. I believe that many have the will ; 
for who can be so cruel to me, as to desire my exile to be spent 
without tranquillity? It is your duty to strive with all your 
heart, and all your strength, and to exert yourself night and 
day in my behalf. And, that others may render me aid, 
you ought, my wife, to surpass my friends, and to be the very 
first to fulfil your duties. 

A conspicuous name has been conferred on you, in my 
writings : you are there said to be the model of a good wife ; 
take care that you fall not short of it. Be careful that my 
praises are well-founded ; that you may show respect for a 
work of Fame. Though I myself should make no complaint, 
yet Fame will complain, in my silence, if you have not that 
care for me which you ought to have. My destiny has ex- 
posed me, in the sight of the public, and has drawn upon me 
more attention than I formerly received. Capaneus has become 
better known from being struck by lightning : Amphiaraiis 2 

2 AmpJdaraus.~\ — Ver. 52. He was the son of Oi'cles, and was a 
prophet and soothsayer of Greece. Being forced by Polynices to accom- 
pany Mm to the Theban war, he fied from Periclymenus, who pursued 
him. Jupiter, on this, buried a thunderbolt, which opening the ground, 



E. I.] OF OVID. 421 

is known, from his horses having been sunk in the earth. Had 
he wandered less, Ulysses would have been less known ; the 
fame of Philoctetes became great, through his wound. If there 
is any room for humble names among great ones, my fall makes 
me too illustrious ; and my pages allow not that you should be 
unknown, in which you have a celebrity not inferior to that of 
the Coan Battis. Whatever, then, you shall do, you will be 
beheld on an extensive stage, and you will prove an affectionate 
wife, with no few persons for your witnesses. Believe me, as 
often as you are praised in my verses, she who reads those 
praises, enquires whether you are deserving of them. And, as 
I believe that there will be many to approve of those virtues, 
so there will be no few ready to criticise your actions. There- 
fore, do you take care, that Envy may not be able to say, "This 
woman is slow in helping her afflicted husband. 59 And, since I 
have lost my strength, and cannot guide my chariot, be it your 
care alone to keep up the flagging yoke. As my veins become 
exhausted, in my illness I look to the physician : come to my 
aid, while the last moments of my life still remain; and, as you 
are in stronger health, do you give me that assistance, which, 
if I were better than you, I would then give you. Conjugal 
affection, and the marriage tie, demand this ; you yourself, my 
wife, demand this of your virtues. This you owe to the family 
in whose number you are reckoned, that you may honour it, 
not more by your attachment than by your goodness. Though 
you should do everything besides, unless you prove yourself 
praiseworthy as a wife, it will not be believed that Marcia is 
esteemed by you. And I am not unworthy of it ; nor (if you 
are only willing to speak the truth) are there no thanks due 
from you for my kindnesses : they are repaid me with heavy 
interest ; and Envy has not the power, though she should de- 
sire it, to injure you. But still, add this one action to your 
former ones, and be regardful of your duty in the alleviation of 
my misfortunes. Exert your energies, that I maybe placed 
in a less hateful spot ; and then, no part of your duty will be 
defective. I ask great favours, but nothing to produce dislike, 
when you entreat in my behalf ; and though you should not 
gain your request, your denial will be productive of no danger. 
And do not blame me, if I request you so often, in my lines, 

he and his chariot, with Bato, his charioteer, were swallowed up. After 
his death, divine honours were paid to him. 



422 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. ill. 

to do as you are doing, and to imitate yourself. The trum- 
peter is wont to be of use to the valiant; and the general, with 
his voice, cheers on the men that are bravely fighting. Your 
goodness is well known, and is attested to all futurity : let 
your courage, too, be no less than your goodness, The battle- 
axe of the Amazons is not to be assumed in my behalf, nor is 
the small target to be borne by your active hand. A Deity is 
to be prayed to, not to become friendly to me, but to be less 
angered against me, than he was before. If there is no favour 
for you, yet tears will plead in your favour. By this means, 
or by none at all, can you influence the Gods. It is well pro- 
vided by my misfortunes, that these shall not be wanting to 
you ; and as I am your husband, you have abundant cause for 
weeping. And as my fortunes staod at 'present, I think you 
will have to weep throughout all time. My fate supplies you 
with such resources as these. 

If my death could be redeemed at the price of yours 
(which Heaven forfend), 'tis the wife of Admetus 3 whom you 
would imitate. You would become the rival of Penelope, if, 
as a wife, you had occasion to deceive importunate suitors by 
a virtuous stratagem. If you had to follow, as an attendant, 
the funeral of a dead husband, Laodamia would be a prece- 
dent for your actions. The daughter of IpmVmust be placed 
before your eyes, if you wish to place your body full of life on 
the lighted pile. There is no necessity for death, none for the 
web of the daughter of Icarius ; but the wife of Csesar must 
be implored with your own lips. She, by her own virtues, ensures 
that hoar antiquity shall not surpass our time in the credit of 
chastity. While she has both the beauty of Venus and the 
manners of Juno, she alone has been found worthy of the 
bed of a Divinity. Why are you trembling ? Why do you 
hesitate to approach her ? Neither unnatural Progne, nor the 
daughter of iEetes, is to be entreated by your words ; no 
daughter-in-law of iEgyptus, nor the cruel wife of Agamem- 
non, nor yet Scylla, she who, by her lower parts, keeps the 
Sicilian seas in dread ; nor yet the mother of Telegonus, 

3 The wife of AdmetusJ] — Ver. 106. Alcestis was the daughter of 
Pelias, and the wife of Admetus, king of Pherae, in Thessaly. In her 
affection for her husband, she consented ty die in his stead. 

4 The daughter of Iphis.] — Ver. 111. Evadne, the daughter of Iphis, 
in her grief, threw herself on the funeral pile of Capaneus, her husband. 



E. I.] OF OYID. 423 

born for the transformation of shapes ; nor Medusa, having 
her matted hair wreathed with serpents. Bat His a princely 
woman ; in whose instance Fortune proves that she can see, 
and has removed the false imputation of blindness. This 
universe contains nothing in the world more illustrious than 
her, with the exception of Csesar ; even from the rising of the 
sun to its setting. Choose the time for entreating her, which 
you have often watched for, that your bark may not leave har- 
bour with an unfavourable tide. The oracles do not always 
give out the hallowed responses ; and the temples themselves 
are not thrown open at all times. When the state of the City 
shall be such, as I now suppose it to be, and when no misfor- 
tune shall be contracting the brow of the public ; when the, 
home of Augustus, honoured with rites, after the example of 
the Capitol, shall be joyous (as now it is, and long may it be 
so), and shall be replete with tranquillity ; then may the 
Gods grant you liberty to approach her ; then believe that 
your words will have some effect. If she shall be engaged 
with something of more importance, postpone your under- 
taking, and take care, not, by too much precipitation, to ruin 
my hopes. Again, I do not order you not to seek access to 
her until she is entirely at liberty ; for she hardly has leisure 
to decorate her person. Should the Court be crowded with 
the venerable Senators, still must you go amid the turmoil of 
business. When it has been thy lot to come into the presence 
of Juno, 5 take care and remember the character that you are 
sustaining. 

And do not defend my acts ; silence must be preserved 
when a cause is bad : let your words be no other than anxious 
entreaties. Then there must be no cessation of your tears ; 
and, on the ground, extend your suppliant arms to the heavenly 
feet. Then ask for nothing else, but that I may depart from 
amid savage foes ; let it be enough for me for Fortune to be 
my foe. More things, indeed, occur to me ; but, struck with 
awe, you will hardly be able to utter thus much with your 
trembling lips. I am of opinion that this will not cause you in- 
jury ; let her understand that you stood in awe of her Majesty. 
And, if your words are interrupted by your sobs, it will do 
no harm ; tears sometimes have the weight of words. Take 

5 Presence of Juno.] — Ver. 145. Under this august name, he intends 
to convey a compliment to Livia. 



424 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. III. 

care, too, that a lucky day 6 is found for your undertaking, and 
a fitting hour, and a favourable omen. But first, after fire 
has been placed on the hallowed altars, offer frankincense and 
unmixed wine to the great Gods ; among whom, before all, 
adore the Divinity of Augustus, and his affectionate offspring, 
and the partner of his bed. May they, after their usual 
manner, be kind to you ; and may they behold your tears 
with no severe countenance. 



EPISTLE II.— TO COTTA. 

He praises the constancy of Cotta ; and he says, that, whereas others de- 
serted then* friend in his adversity, he always remained firm in his attach- 
ment. He tells him that his kindness will always be remembered by him ; 
and that it will not be forgotten after his death, should his writings sur- 
vive to posterity. 

I prat, Cotta, that the salutation which thou here readest, 
sent by me, may come to thee bringing its own fulfilment. 7 
For, while prospering, thou greatly diminishest my tor- 
ments, and thou causest a good part of me to be still un- 
scathed. And when others flag, and desert my split sails, 
thou remainest, as the only anchor of my shattered bark. Thy 
affection, then, is delightful to me ; and I pardon those, who, 
together with Fortune, have turned their backs in flight. 
Although the thunderbolts strike but one, not one only do they 
alarm; the multitude that is near him who is smitten, is wont to 
tremble. And when a wall has given symptoms of an ap- 
proaching fall, that spot becomes deserted in anxious appre- 
hension. Who, of the fearful ones, does not avoid intercourse 
with the sick man, in dread lest he should thereby contract 
the malady of his neighbour ? Me too, in the extreme dread 
and alarm of my friends, and not through dislike, did some 
of my acquaintances desert — neither attachment, nor affection- 
ate attention was wanting in them ; they stood in awe of the 
hostile Deities. And, although they may appear too, cautious 

6 A lucky day.~\ — Ver. 159. Not, in fact, one of those days that were 
called ' atri,' ' black,' as being remarkable for some public calamity. 

7 Bringing its own fulfilment.^ — Ver. 2. * Missavere;' literally, ' sent 
truly,' alluding to the word 'salus,' 'health,' or, as it is rendered above, 
' salutation.' 



E. 11] OF OYID. 425 

and timid, yet they do not deserve to be called bad. But 
my sincerity thus excuses my friends, and is in their favour, 
that they may have no grounds of reproach on my account. 
Let them be content with this indulgence ; and, if they like, 
they may put it upon record, that, even by my testimony, their 
conduct was unimpeached. Ye few are the more desirable 
portion, who, in my adversity, deemed it a disgrace to give me 
no aid. For that reason, will gratitude for your kindness die 
at the time, when, my body being consumed, I shall have 
become ashes. In that I shall be deceived, and it shall extend 
beyond the period of my life, if indeed my works shall be 
read by attentive posterity. The lifeless body is the due of 
the sorrowing pile ; fame and glory escape the erected pyre. 
Theseus is dead, and he who was the companion of Orestes ; 
but still each of them lives in his own praises. And you too, 
shall our remote descendants often praise, and in my writings 
your fame will be distinguished. Even here, the Sauromatse 
and the Getse have now heard of you ; and the barbarian 
multitude approves of such feelings. And when, lately, I was 
making mention of your goodness (for, I have learned to speak 
the Getan and the Sarmatian languages), by chance a certain 
old man, as he was standing in that company, answered my 
words to the following effect : — 

" We too, stranger, whom the freezing Danube confines, 
far from you at Rome, are well acquainted with the name of 
friendship. There is a place in Scythia, (the ancients call it 
Tauri,) which is not so very far distant from the Getic land. 
Of this land I am a native, and of my country I am not 
ashamed : this nation worships the Goddess, the sister of 
Phcebus. Her temple remains to this day, supported on vast 
columns ; and you ascend to it by ten times four steps. The 
story is, that in this place there was a statue, that had come 
from heaven ; and that you may have the less hesitation in believ- 
ing it, the pedestal still stands there, deprived of the Goddess. 
The altar, too, which had been white from the nature of the 
stone, is dyed red, being discoloured by the blood which was 
shed upon it. A woman, who is a stranger to the torch of 
marriage, performs the rites ; one, who is pre-eminent among 
the Scythian matrons in noble station. The nature of the 
sacrifice is, (for thus did our forefathers ordain) that the 
stranger must die, struck by the sword of the virgin. Thoas 



426 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. hi. 

ruled the kingdom, a man illustrious in the land of Meeotis ; 
and no one was more famed throughout the waters of the 
Euxine. While he held the Sceptre, they say, that a certain 
Iphigenia, a stranger, made her way thither, through the liquid 
air. Her, carried under a cloud by the light breezes through 
the air, Phoebe is supposed to have deposited in these regions. 
She had now presided, in due form, over the temple for many 
a year, performing the woeful rites with unwilling hand ; when 
two young men came in a sail-bearing ship, and trod our shores 
with their feet. Their ages were alike, and so was their affec- 
tion ; of these, the one was Orestes, the other, Pylades. Fame 
preserves their names. They are immediately led to the re- 
morseless altar of Trivia, having their two hands bound be- 
hind their backs. The Grecian priestess sprinkles the captives 
with the water of purification, that the long sacred band may 
encircle their yellow hair. And while she is preparing the 
rites, while she is binding their temples with the fillets, and 
while she is ever discovering some ground for tardy delay : she 
says, ' Pardon me, young men, I am not cruel ; I perform 
rites that are more barbarous than their own country. Yet, 
such is the custom of this nation. But, from what city do 
ye come ? and whither were ye directing your course, in your 
unfortunate bark V She spoke, and the pious virgin, on hear- 
ing the name of her country, found out that they were inha- 
bitants of her own city. ( Let one of you/ she says, ( fall as a 
victim ; let the other go, as the messenger of theserites, to 
your paternal abodes.' Pylades, on the point of death, bids 
his dear Orestes go : the other refuses ; and each, in his 
turn, strives to die. This is the sole thing, on which they 
are not agreed : in all other respects, the pair are of one 
mind, and without disagreement. While these beauteous 
youths are waging this contest of love ; she pens written 
characters to her brother. She there gives a message for her 
brother, and he to whom it was given (see the accidents of 
mortals) was her brother. There is no hesitating ; from the 
temple they carry off the image of Diana : and by ship, they 
are stealthily borne over the boundless waters. This wondrous 
friendship of the youths, although so many years have elapsed, 
even yet enjoys great celebrity in Scythia." 

After this hackneyed story was related by him ; all praised 
their actions and their faithful attachment. In truth, even in 



e. ii.] or oyid. 427 

this land (than which there is none more uncivilized) the name 
of friendship moves the hearts of barharians. What ought 
ye to do, who are born in the Ausonian City, when such actions 
affect the ruthless Getee ? Besides, thou hast always a kind dis- 
position, which has thy virtues for a proof of thy high no- 
bility ; virtues, which Yolesus, 8 the founder of thy paternal 
name, would approve, and which Numa, thy maternal ancestor, 
would not disavow as his own. The Cottse too, who are 
added to thy family name, a house that would have perished, 9 
hadst thou not existed, would praise them. Oh thou, thus 
worthy of that line, believe that it is befitting such virtues to 
assist a ruined friend. 



EPISTLE III.— TO FABIUS MAXIMUS. 

He says, that while reclining on his couch, Cupid presented himself, and 
that he requested the God, that, inasmuch as through him he had been 
exiled, he would prevail upon Augustus to grant him a less disagreeable 
spot for his banishment. He then states the answer that he received 
from Cupid. 

If thou hast leisure to give a little time to thy exiled friend, 
do thou be present, Maximus, thou star of the Fabian house, 
while I tell thee what I have seen ; whether it was the phan- 
tom of a body, or an appearance of reality, or a dream. 

'Twas night ; and the Moon was entering the windows with 
their two shutters, 10 as strong as she is generally wont to shine 

8 Volesus.~] — Ver. 105. He was the paternal ancestor of Cotta ; being 
a Sabine, who migrated to Rome with Titus Tatius. Silius Italicus tells 
us that Volesus was of Spartan origin. 

9 That would have perished.] — Ver. 103. From this, it appears that he 
had been adopted into the Aurelian branch of the house of Cotta, which 
had, at the time of the Poet's writing this Epistle, become extinct. 

10 Their two shutters.] — Ver. 5. This alludes to the fact that many of 
the windows were openings in the wall, closed by means of shutters, which 
sometimes had two leaves, or compartments. They were frequently with- 
out any other protection or covering than the shutters ; but were some- 
times covered with lattice or trellis work, and sometimes with net-work. 
Laminae of 'lapis specularis,' or 'mica/ were used in later times, to admit 
the light, while excluding the cold. Glass was also used under the early 
emperors, as frames of glass windows have been found in some of the 
houses at Pompeii. It is most probable that the window of the room in 
which the Poet lay at this period was glazed either with ' mica' or glass ; 
as it is not likely that in a climate, the cold of which, as he often says, he 
felt so bitterly, he would lie in bed exposed to the chill of the night ; as, 



428 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. hi. 

in the middle of the month. Sleep, the common respite from 
care, possessed me, and my languid limbs were stretched over 
the whole couch ; when, suddenly, the air shook tremulously, 
beaten by wings, and the moved window creaked with a gentle 
noise. Startled, I supported my body on my left arm ; and 
sleep, dispelled, departed from my trembling breast. Cupid 
was standing, with a countenance not such as he was formerly 
wont, in his sadness holding a maple staff in his left hand. 
On his neck he had no collar, 11 no hair-pin in his hair ; 12 nor 
was he neat, with his locks well arranged, as formerly. His 
soft hair was hanging over his rough countenance, and his 
wings appeared all ragged to my eyes : just as it is wont to be 
on the back of the aerial pigeon, which many fingers of hand- 
lers have touched. Soon as I recognized him, (and none was 
better known to me) my tongue, set at liberty, addressed him 
in such words as these : " Oh boy, the cause of exile to thy 
beguiled master, whom it had been more to my interest not to 
have had for my instructor ; hast thou come hither, too, where 
there is peace at no time, and the barbarian Danube freezes 
with his icy waves ? What is the cause of thy journey? un- 
less that thou mightst be the witness of my sorrows, which are, 
if thou knowest it not, a cause for hatred against thee. Thou 
wast the first to dictate the poems of my youth ; under thy 
guidance, I have alternated the ^Ye feet with the six feet. 13 
Thou didst not allow me to soar aloft with the Meeonian verse, 
nor to celebrate the actions of great generals. Perhaps thy 
bow and thy flame diminished the powers of my genius, which, 
small though perhaps they were, were still something. For 

by his mention of the rays of the moon entering the room, it is clear that 
the shutters were not closed, as he lay. 

11 Had no collar.] — Ver. 15. ' Torquem.' The ' torquis,' or 'torques/ 
was an ornament of gold, twisted spirally and bent into a circular form, 
which was worn round the neck by the men of the upper classes among 
the Persians, Gauls, Britons, and other northern and eastern nations; 
Cupid is here represented as wearing no 'torques,' as a sign of grief. 

12 No hair -pin in his hair.] — Ver. 15. 'Crinale/ This alludes to the 
custom of the women, and probably the children among the ancients, of 
platting the hair, and then fastening it behind with a hair pin. This was 
called either * acus crinalis,' or ' crinale,' absolutely, as in this instance. 
They were made of metal, wood, bone, or ivory, and resembled a needle 
or bodkin with a sharp point. This fashion still prevails in Italy and 
Germany, and has been adopted in some degree in England. 

13 With the six feet.] — Ver. 30. That is, when he composed his 
1 Ainores/ in the Elegiac measure, in his younger days. 



e. in.] ' of ovid. 429 

while I was singing of thy sway, and that of thy mother, my 
mind never had leisure for any work of magnitude. And that 
was not enough ; in my folly, too, I wrote verses, that thou 
mightst, through my books on the Art of Love, become not 
inexperienced. In return for these, exile was given as a recom- 
pense to wretched me ; that, too, in regions the most distant, 
and without the enjoyment of any peace. But Eumolpus, the 
son of Chione, did not prove such towards Orpheus, nor was 
Olympus such towards Marsyas, the Phrygian Satyr. Chiron 
received no such reward from Achilles, and they do not say 
that Numa did any injury to Pythagoras. And, not to repeat 
names collected over a long space of time, I am the only one 
who have been ruined by my own scholar. While I am pro- 
viding thee with weapons, while, wanton one, I am instructing 
thee ; the master receives such a gift as this from his scholar. 
And yet thou knowest, and thou mightst say it, sworn to the 
truth, that I plotted not against lawful wedlock. These things 
did I write for those whose chaste hair the fillet does not touch, 
nor the long gown their feet. Tell me, I pray, when didst 
thou learn to beguile the matrons, and, through my pre- 
cepts, to cast a doubt on the legitimacy of their offspring ? 
Is not every woman strictly repulsed from these books, 
whom the law forbids to entertain men by stealth ? But of 
what avail is that, if I am considered to have composed 
precepts for adultery, forbidden by severe laws ? But thou, 
mayst thou have arrows that strike all things, and may thy 
torches never be without the burning flame ; may Caesar, who 
is the descendant of thy brother iEneas, rule the empire, and 
hold sway over the whole earth ; hut do thou cause that his 
wrath against me be not implacable, and that he allow me to 
be punished in a place more agreeable/ 5 

These things did I seem to say to the winged boy ; these 
words did he seem to utter to me. " By the torches, that are my 
weapons, and by the arrows that are my weapons, and by my 
mother, and by the head of Ceesar, do I swear, that, under thy 
instruction, I learned nothing but what was lawful, and that 
there is no ground for accusation in thy books on the Art of 
Love. And would that, like this, I could defend thee in other 
respects ! Thou knowest that it is rather another thing that 
caused thy ruin. Yfhatever it is (and that grief ought not to be 
disclosed) thou canst not say that it was unattended with fault 



430 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. III. 

on thy part. Although thou mayst screen the change under the 
appearance of error, still the anger of the Avenger was not 
greater than was deserved. But yet, that I might behold thee, 
and that I might console thee thus prostrate, my wings have 
glided through immeasurable tracts. These regions did I 
first behold, at the time when, at the request of my mother, 
the Phasian damsel Medea was pierced by my weapons. 
Thou, soldier that art a friend to my camp, art the cause of 
my revisiting this land, after a length of ages. Lay aside, then, 
thy fears ; the wrath of Csesar will be assuaged, and a more 
joyous time will come, at thy entreaties. And fear not delay ; 
the time that we look for, is at hand ; and triumph makes 
every place to be filled with joy. While thy house, and thy 
sons, and their mother Li via are happy ; while thou art happy, 
great Father of thy country, and of the triumphant General ; 
while the people is feeling an inward joy, and, throughout 
the City, every altar is glowing with the perfumed flames ; 
while the venerable temple is affording an easy access ; 'tis to be 
hoped that our prayers may at length be enabled to prevail." 

He spoke ; and either he disappeared in thin air, or my 
senses began to awake. If I doubted, Maximus, of thy 
approval of these words, I could believe that there are swans 
of the colour of Memnon. 11 But neither is the milky stream 
changed into black pitch ; nor does the ivory, which was white, 
become the turpentine tree. Thy birth is befitting thy 
spirit ; for thou hast a heart that is noble and endowed with 
the honesty of Hercules. Envy, that spiritless vice, attacks 
not such high feelings ; like a viper, it crawls lurking on the 
ground beneath. Thy lofty spirit rises superior to thy very 
descent ; and thou hast not a name that is more illustrious 
than thy character. Let others, then, injure the distressed, and 
desire to be dreaded ; and let them wield their arrows, tipped 
with the corrosive venom ; thy house has ever been accus- 
tomed to aid the prostrate : in the number of these, I pray 
thee to allow me to be. 

14 Colour of Memnon.'] — Ver. 96. That is, black. The ancients con- 
sidered that a black swan was the very ideal of an impossibility : modern 
enterprise has corrected this mistake, and has shown us, by ocular demon- 
stration, that such a bird exists in the Australasian continent. 



B. IV.] 



OE OYID. 431 



EPISTLE IV.— TO RUFINUS. 



Ovid, having sent to Rome his Poem on the Triumph of Tiberius, after 
the conquest of Illyria, requests his friend, Rufinus, to take it under his 
protection. He excuses himself on many grounds, because he feels that 
he has not done justice to his subject. He then addresses Livia, the 
mother of Tiberius, and foretells that he will shortly have another 
triumph, and that over Germany. 

Thy friend Naso sends thee, from the city of Tomi, these 
words that bear no insincere salutation ; and he bids thee, 
Rufinus, to show favour to his Triumph; if indeed, it comes 
into thy hands. 'Tis but a little work, and unequal to its 
vast subject ; but, such as it is, I entreat thee, take it under 
thy protection. Bodies that are healthy are strong of them- 
selves, and seek the aid of no Machaon : the sick man, in his 
uncertainty, has recourse to medical aid. Great poets have 
no need of an indulgent reader, they captivate one, however 
unwilling and difficult to please. I, whose talents protracted 
toils have impaired, (or may be, I had none even before), infirm 
in strength, recover health by thy kindness ; shouldst thou 
withhold that, I should think myself deprived of every thing. 
And, whereas all my productions rely upon partial support, 
this book has an especial claim to indulgence. 

Other poets have written of a temple wiiich they beheld ; 
'tis something to set down what we have seen with a recording 
hand. I write of these things, with difficulty caught by me in 
public with greedy ear; and rumour has been in place of eyes 
for me. Does, forsooth, the like enthusiasm, or the same inspi- 
ration arise from things when only heard of, as from them when 
seen ? I complain not that the splendour of the silver and of 
the gold, and the purple which ye beheld, was wanting to me ; 
but still the various places, the nations modelled in a thousand 
forms, and the battles themselves, would have invigorated my 
lines. The countenances, too, of the kings, the surest indexes 
of their feelings, would perhaps, in some measure, have aided 
that work. Every genius is able to grow warm at the applause 
of the public, and at its transports of joy. As much vigour 
should I have acquired, amid such acclamations, as the raw 
soldier does, when he hears the trumpet sound to arms. Al- 
though my heart were made of snow and ice, and were colder 
than this region that I am now enduring ; yet the features of 



432 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [ B . in. 

that Chief, as he stands in his ivory chariot, would dispel every 
chill from my senses. Defective in these respects, and fur- 
nished with uncertain authorities, with good reason I have 
recourse to the aid of thy favour. Neither the names of the 
leaders nor those of the places are known to me ; my hands 
with difficulty met with subject matter. Of events so great, 
how large a part was there that Fame could repeat, or that 
any one could write to me ? With greater reason, then, 
reader, thou oughtst to pardon me, if there is anything there 
omitted by me, or in which I am mistaken. Besides, my lyre, 
that has dwelt upon the everlasting complaints of its master, 
was with difficulty brought round to a song of joy. Words 
of gladness hardly recurred to me seeking them after so long 
a time : to be at all joyful, seemed to me a novelty. And as 
the eyes dread the sun, to which they are unused, so was my 
mind averse to joyousness. Novelty is the most endearing of 
all things, and thanks for a kindness, which delay retards, are 
lost. I suppose that other works, written in a spirit of emu- 
lation about the great triumph, have already been read by the 
lips of the public. The reader drinks of those cups when 
thirsty, when now satisfied, of mine ; that stream is drunk of 
when fresh, mine becomes nauseous. 15 I have not been idle, 
nor has slothfulness made me tardy : the remotest shore of 
the wide ocean confines me. While report is arriving hither, 
while my hurried verses are being composed, and, when com- 
posed, while they are travelling to you at Rome, a whole year may 
have passed away. And it makes no slight difference, whether 
you first pluck the roses before untouched, or whether, with 
a late hand, when there are scarcely any left. What wonder 
is there, when the garden is exhausted, the flowers having been 
picked, if a chaplet has been formed, not worthy of its chief? 
I entreat no poet to think that this is said against his verses : 
in her own behalf has my Muse spoken. I have kindred ties 
with you, ye poets ; if it is allowed to the wretched to be of your 
number. Ye, my friends, have lived with me, as being a large 
portion of my very life ; even in this region, I, still ever present, 16 
hold you in esteem. May my verses then be commended to your 

15 Becomes nauseous.'] — Ver. 56. * Tepescit ;' literally, l grows warm.' 
Warm water, when drunk alone, is generally productive of a tendency to 
nausea. 

16 / still ever present.} — Ver. 70. ' Non absens: ? literally, ' not absent/ 



. . iv ] OF OTID. 433 

favour, in behalf of which I cannot address you personally. 
Writings generally please after death ; because envy is wont 
to attack the living, and to tear them with unfair tooth. 
If it is a kind of death to live in wretchedness; the earth only 
awaits me, and the sepulchre alone is wanting to my end. 
Lastly, although this result of my labours should be blamed 
on every side, there will be no one to blame my zeal. Although 
strength is wanting, yet the inclination is to be commended; 
with this, I trust, the Gods are content. This is the reason, 
why, even the poor approach the altars acceptably ; and 
why a lamb pleases not less than a slaughtered ox. The 
subject, too, was so great, that it would have proved a burden 
even for the great poet of the iEneid to support it. The 
weak Elegiac measure, too, was not able to bear on its unequal 
wheels the excessive weight of a triumph. 

I am doubtful in opinion, what kind of measure I shall now 
use ; for another triumph is approaching ; one over thee, 
Rhine. The presages of the truth-telling poets are not deceptive. 
A laurel must be offered to Jove, while the former one is still 
green. Thou art not noiv reading my words, who am far re- 
moved to the Danube, to streams that are drunk of by the un- 
subdued Getee. 'Tis the voice of a Divinity ; a Divinity resides 
within my breast : I foretell and I prophecy this under the 
influence of a God. Why, Livia, art thou delaying to prepare 
the chariot and the procession for the triumph ? Wars do not 
now cause thee any delay. Germany throws aside her spear, 
which she curses ; now wilt thou say that my prophecy has its 
weight. Have faith, and soon will thy confidence be realized ; 
thy. son will reiterate his honours, and will, as before, go in 
procession with the yoked steeds. Prepare the purple, which 
thou mayst place on the victorious shoulders : the very laurel 
is able to recognize the head to which it is accustomed. Let 
the shields and the helmets sparkle with gems and with gold ; 
let the trophies on the lopped trunks stand above the men in 
fetters. Let the towns in ivory be surrounded with the turreted 
fortifications ; and let an imitation of a thing be supposed to be 
performed after the manner of the original. Let the squalid 
Rhine have his hair gathered under his broken reeds, and his 
waters tinged with blood. Now, captive kings are demanding the 
ornaments of barbarism, and woven vestments of more worth than 
their own lot. Prepare, too, the things which the invincible 

F F 



434 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [ B . hi. 

valour of thy family, both has caused, and will cause, to be 
prepared by thee. 

Ye Gods, by whose conmiand I have given utterance to the 
future, verify my words, I pray, by a speedy fulfilment. 



EPISTLE V.— TO MAXIMUS COTTA. 

He launches forth in praise of the speech of Maximus Cotta, which he 
had delivered before the judicial court at Rome, a copy of which he had 
sent the Poet to read ; and he begs him often to send him his produc- 
tions. He says that, in his absence, he ever seems present to him ; and 
that he fancies himself at Rome, in his company, as though in the enjoy- 
ment of heaven. When he remembers that he is in Scythia, he says 
that he seems to return to the infernal regions. 

Dost thou inquire, whence the letter was sent to thee, that 
thou art now reading ? ' Tis from here, where the Danube joins 
the azure waves. When the place has been mentioned, the 
author, too, ought to recur to thee, Naso the poet, who was 
ruined by his own talents. ' Tis he who sends thee, Maximus 
Cotta, from among the shaggy Getse, the salutation which he 
would rather give thee in person. 

I read, youth that hast not degenerated from the elo- 
quence of thy father, the fluent language that has been spoken 
by thee in the crowded court. Although this has been read 
by me with a hastening tongue, throughout several hours, my 
complaint is, that there was too little. But this I have made 
more by often reading it again ; and never was it less pleasing 
to me, than it was at first. And since, when so often read, it 
loses nothing of its interest, it pleases by its own merit, and 
not by its novelty. Happy were they, whose lot it was to hear 
it in reality, and to enjoy the pleasure of language so eloquent ! 
For although there is a pleasant taste in water that is fetched, 
water is drunk with greater pleasure at the spring itself. It 
is more gratifying, too, to pluck the apple from the bough pulled 
downward, than to take one from a sculptured dish. And, unless 
I am mistaken, had not my Muse caused my exile, thy voice 
should have given utterance in my presence to the work which 
I have read. As was my wont, perhaps as one of the hun- 
dred men, I should have been sitting as a judge over thy words ; 
and a greater pleasure would have filled my heart, when I 
was influenced by thy language, and yielded my assent to it. 



E. v.] OF OYID. 435 

Since fate, yourselves and my country being left behind, has 
preferred that I should be among the barbarian Getse, often 
send me, I beg, as it is permitted thee to do, the pledges of 
thy pursuits, to be read by me, that I may seem still more to 
be with thee : follow, too, my example, unless thou despisest 
it — a thing which, more properly, thou thyself shouldst show 
me. For I, Maximus, who for some time have been dead to 
you, my friends, endeavour, through the medium of my genius, 
not to perish utterly. Give a commensurate return ; and let 
my hands receive no few memorials of thy labours, that will be 
so pleasing to me. But tell me, youth, so devoted to my 
pursuits, art thou not, by those very pursuits, reminded of me ? 
When either thou art reciting the poem which thou hast just 
composed, to thy friends, or when, as thou art often wont, thou 
art requesting them to recite, does not thy heart grieve^ for- 
getting what it is that is absent ? Assuredly it does feel 
that an indefinite portion of itself is wanting. And as thou 
wast wont to speak much of me when among you, is now 
too the name of Naso often on thy lips ? May I, indeed, perish, 
wounded by the Getic bow (and may that be the punishment 
of my perjury which thou seeest thus near me), if I do not 
in thy absence behold thee almost every moment. 

Thanks to the Gods, the spirit may range wherever it pleases. 
In my imagination, when, beheld by none, I have arrived in the 
City, I often hold discourse with thee ; I often enjoy thy con- 
versation. At that moment, it is hard to say, how delightful it is 
to me ; and how happy is that hour, in my thinking. At 
that moment (if I may be at all trusted), I believe myself re- 
ceived into the abodes of heaven, along with the blessed Gods. 
Again, when I have returned hither, I leave the heavens and 
the Gods above ; and the Pontic soil is not far removed from 
the Styx. If, against resisting fate, I am struggling to return 
thence, do thou, Maximus, divest me of an unavailing hope. 



436 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. in. 



EPISTLE VI.— TO A FRIEND. 

He writes to one of his friends, who, through fear of Augustus, did not 
wish his name to be mentioned in his writings ; he bids him consider 
the merciful disposition of the Emperor, and tells him that he has no just 
grounds for apprehension ; but he promises that, without his leave, 
he will not insert his name in his letters. He asks him, if he cannot 
venture to do so openly, at least to maintain his former affection towards 
him in secret. 

Naso sends these few lines, from the Euxine waves, to his old 
companion, to which he was nearly adding the name. And 
why, when others deem it safe, art thou the only one to re- 
quest that my lines should not name thee ? By me, if thou 
knowest it not, thou mayst be informed, how great is the mercy 
of Caesar, in the midst of his wrath. Were I compelled to be 
the judge of my own deserts, 1 should be able to subtract 
nothing from this punishment which I am suffering. He 
does not forbid any one to remember his companion ; he does 
not prevent me from writing to thee, nor thee to me. Thou 
canst commit no crime, if thou consolest thy friend, and dost 
alleviate his cruel fate by soothing words. Why, while thou 
art fearing in safety, dost thou cause such dread to become a 
ground of hatred against the august Deities ? We have some- 
times seen those that have been blasted by the bolts of the 
lightning, live and recover, Jove not forbidding it. Because 
Neptune had shattered the ship of Ulysses, Leucothoe did not 
refuse to aid him as he swam. Believe me, the Deities of 
Heaven spare the wretched, and they do not for ever and un- 
ceasingly persecute the afflicted. And no God is more lenient 
than our Prince ; he moderates his might by justice. Caesar 
has lately placed her in a temple built of marble ; 1T he did so, 
long since, in the temple of his mind. Jupiter hurls his light- 
nings at random against many, who have not deserved punish- 
ment for a commensurate fault. Yv 7 hen the God of the ocean 
has overwhelmed so many in his relentless waves, how large a 
number of them was deserving to be drowned ? Were all the 

] 7 Temple built of marble.'] — Ver. 25. This temple is not anywhere 
mentioned hy the classical authors. Some commentators think that 
reference is made to the temple which was dedicated to Mars Ultor, or 
the Avenger, after the defeat and death of Brutus and Cassius. They justify 
this supposition, on the ground that vengeance, or rather retrihution, is 
a part of justice. 



B. vi. J OE OYID. 437 

bravest to perisli in battle, the choice of Mars, even in his own 
judgment, would be unjust. But if, perchance, thou shouldst 
desire to inquire of us Romans, there is no one who would 
deuy that he is deserving of what he endures. Besides, no 
day can again bring to life those that have perished either by 
the sea, or by warfare, or by fire, Ceesar has pardoned many, 
or has modified a part of their punishment : and I pray that 
he may will me to be one of that multitude. And dost thou, 
when we are a people under such a Prince, believe that there 
is ground for apprehension in the correspondence of an exile ? 
Perhaps, with Busiris for thy master, thou mightst with reason 
have dreaded this, or with him, who was wont to roast men 
shut up in the brass. Cease to asperse a merciful spirit with 
thy vain fears. Why, in the tranquil waves, art thou in dread 
of the rocks ? I seem hardly able to find an excuse for my- 
self, because I first wrote to thee without a name. But fear 
had taken away the use of reason from me, thus stupified, and 
ail judgment had forsaken me in my misfortunes. Dreading my 
destiny, not the wrath of the Avenger, I myself was alarmed 
by the superscription of my own name. 

Thus far exhorted, indulge the grateful Poet, that he may in- 
sert thy dear name in his sheets. It will be a disgrace to us both, 
if thy name, connected with me by long acquaintanceship, is to 
be read in no part of my book. But, that this apprehension 
may not disturb thy slumbers, I will not be affectionate beyond 
thy wishes ; and I will conceal who thou art, unless thou thyself 
shalt have first given me permission. No man shall be com- 
pelled to receive my gifts. Only do thou, if it is a cause of 
anxious fear to thee, love him in secret, whom thou couldst 
even love openly without danger. 



EPISTLE VIL— TO HIS FRIENDS. 

The Poet writes to his friends, and complains that his letters are eternally 
on the same subject, and that after he has so often entreated them to 
obtain of Augustus either liberty for him to return, or to go to a more 
tranquil place of exile, he knows not what language to use. He says 
that in future he must change his subject, lest he should appear bur- 
densome to them and to his wife, who, through fear, does not dare to 
second his wishes. He also says that he will bear his evils with equa- 
nimity, as he has endured sorrows even greater ; and expresses himself 
ready to die an exile. 

Wo eds fail me, asking the same thing so often, and I am at 



438 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. III. 

last ashamed that my useless entreaties have no end. I sup- 
pose that weariness is the result of lines all of the same tenor, 
and that you have all learned by heart what I desire. Already 
do ye know what my letter brings, although the paper is not 
yet loosened from its strings ; therefore, let the purport of my 
writings be changed, that I may not so often go against the 
stream that carries me away. Pardon me, my friends, if I 
have confidently reckoned upon you ; henceforth there shall 
be an end of such mistakes. I will not be called a burden to 
my wife, who, forsooth, is as timid and as inexperienced in my 
case, as she is virtuous. This too, Naso, shalt thou endure ; for 
worse hast thou already suffered. By this time the weight of 
no burden can be felt by thee. The bull that is taken from 
the herd refuses the plough, and withdraws his youthful neck 
from the galling yoke. I, whom Destiny has been wont to 
treat with cruelty, have long ceased to be unprepared for any 
evils. I have come to the Getic land ; in it let me die, and let 
my destiny go on to the end, by the path on which it has 
begun. Let it delight to adhere to a hope, which does not ever 
delight to elude us by its frustration ; and if you desire any- 
thing to happen, think it will come to pass. The next step 
after this, is, entirely to despair of safety ; and to feel con- 
vinced, once for all, with a certain assurance that we are 
ruined. In the healing, we see certain wounds become larger, 
which it had been better not to have touched. He dies a more 
easy death, who is overwhelmed by a sudden torrent, than he 
who wearies his arms in the swelling waves. 

Why have I imagined that I could depart from the Scythian 
regions, and be blessed with a happier land ? Why did I ever 
hope for any more leniency in my behalf ? Was my fortune 
thus experienced by me ? Behold ! I am tormented still more 
bitterly, and the beauty of places, called to my memory, renews 
the sadness of exile, and begins it afresh. Still, it is better for 
the zeal of my friends to have slumbered, than for the entreaties 
which they have used, to have been of no avail. Great, indeed, 
is the thing, my friends, which ye dare not do ; but, had any one 
asked it, there was one who would have granted it. If only 
the wrath of Caesar has not denied you that, I will die coura- 
geously amid the Euxine waves. 



v. vin.] OF OYID. 439 

EPISTLE VIII.— TO MAXIMUS. 

He sends a quiver and arrows to Maximus, from Tomi, and says that, as 
he has not the means of sending him any better present, he hopes that 
he will take in good part a gift of such a trifling nature. 

I was considering what presents the country of Tomi is able to 
send thee, testifying my attentive affection. Thou art worthy 
of silver, more worthy still of yellow gold : but they are wont 
to delight thee only when thou thyself givest them. Besides, 
this soil is not enriched by any metals : the foe scarcely 
permits it to be turned up by the husbandman. Often has the 
glistening purple covered thy under garments ; but that is 
not dyed by the Sarmatian hand. The sheep bear coarse 
fleeces, and the matrons of Tomi have not learned to employ 
the arts of Pallas. The woman bruises the gifts of Ceres, instead 
of spinning wool, and she carries the heavy weight of water, 
her head placed beneath. The elm here is not clothed with 
the clustering vines ; no apples bend the branches with their 
weight. The unsightly plains produce the bitter wormwood, 
and the soil shows, by its productions, how bitter it is. 

There was nothing, then, in all the region of Pontus, that lies 
on the left hand, which my attention could send thee. Still 
I have sent thee some arrows, enclosed in a Scythian quiver ; 
may they be stained, I pray, with the blood of thy foe. Such 
pens as these, such books as these, does this land possess : this 
is the Muse that flourishes, Maximus, in the place of my 
abode. Although I am ashamed of sending them, because 
they seem so trifling ; still I beg thee to take it in good part, 
that I have sent them. 



EPISTLE IX.— TO BRUTUS. 

Brutus had written to tell Ovid that a person had blamed his writings 
for containing nothing but complaints about the place of his exile, and 
entreaties to be removed to another country ; on which the Poet, in 
answer, admits that there are many faults in his verses, and that it would 
have been well had there been that one only. He then states the 
reasons why he has not corrected them, and tells Brutus why he has so 
frequently repeated the same thing, as his letters were written to different 
persons, and were not originally intended to be collected in one work. 

Thou tellest, me, Brutus, that some one, who, I know not, 
finds fault with my poems, because in these books the subject 



440 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. ill, 

is always the same ; that I pray for nothing but to enjoy the 
favour of a spot not so remote, and that I complain that I am 
surrounded by a numerous foe. Oh ! how is it, that out of so 
many faults, but one alone is censured ? 5 Tis well, if my Muse 
is wrong in this only. I myself am sensible of the faults of 
my works ; whereas, usually, every one approves of his own 
verse more than it deserves. The author naturally praises 
his own works. Thus, perhaps, in days of yore, Agrius 18 said 
that Thersites had good features. But that error does not lead 
my judgment astray ; nor do I forthwith fall in love with any- 
thing to which I have given birth. Dost thou ask then, why, 
if I see my error, I continue to commit faults, and suffer grounds 
for censure to exist in my writings ? The art of perceiving and 
removing diseases, is not the same. The sense of feeling exists 
in all ; by skill alone, disease is removed. Often, when I wish 
to change a word, I leave it ; and my ability falls short of my 
judgment. I often (for why should I hesitate to confess the 
truth to thee ?) feel it a trouble to make a correction, and to 
endure the tedium of protracted exertion. Enthusiasm itself 
aids the writer, and diminishes his toil ; and, as the work 
grows, it waxes warm along with his feelings. But, to correct, 
is a thing as much more difficult, as the illustrious Homer 
was greater than Aristarchus. 19 It galls the mind, by the 
languid chill of anxiety, just as the charioteer pulls in the 
reins of the anxious steed. And so may the benignant Deities 
mitigate the wrath of Caesar against me, and may my bones 
be covered by a soil that enjoys tranquillity ; as sometimes, 
when I endeavour to exert pains, the cruel form of my destiny 
presents an obstacle. And I hardly appear to myself of sound 
mind, for writing verses, and for taking care to correct them, 
amid the savage Getse. 

But there is nothing more pardonable in my writings, 

18 Agrius.~] — Ver. 9. He was the father of Thersites, who, as well as 
being deformed, was the most cowardly and contemptible character in the 
Grecian army before Troy. 

19 Aristarchus.'] — Ver. 24. He was a grammarian of Alexandria, and a 
commentator upon the writings of Homer. JElian tells us that he was 
considered to be a person of such refined and exquisite taste, that those 
lines were rejected by universal assent, which he had pronounced not to 
have been written by Homer. His name was applied proverbially, perhaps 
with some degree of injustice, to those who were inclined to be hyper- 
critical or censorious in their judgments. 



f. ix.] or oyid. 441 

than that but one idea almost pervades them all. When joy- 
ous, I have usually sung joyous songs ; when sad, I compose 
what is sad. Either season is suitable to its own produc- 
tions. On what should I write, but on the miseries of this 
dreadful spot, and entreat that I may die on a more agree- 
able soil 1 Oft as I say the same things, I am heard by hardly 
any one ; and my words,, unnoticed, fail of effect. And yet, 
although they are the same things, I do not write them to 
the same persons ; and my single voice seeks aid through 
many intercessors. Ought one only of my friends to have 
been in treated, Brutus, lest the reader might twice meet with 
the same subject ? It was not of so much consequence to me : 
pardon the confession, ye learned : the reputation of my works 
is of less value than my own safety. 

Lastly, whatever subject-matter any poet has planned out 
for himself, he varies many things, according to his own judg- 
ment. My Muse, also, is a too faithful indicator of my mis- 
fortunes ; and she carries the weight of an uncorrupted 
testimony. And it was not either my purpose or my intention 
that a book should be composed, but that to each person 
should be delivered his own letter. Afterwards, I united them 
when collected, without any order, however ; that thou mayst 
not suppose by chance that it was a work of selections by me. 
Pardon my writings, of which fame was not the cause with 
me, but self-interest and affection united. 



442 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. IV. 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 



EPISTLE I.— TO SEXTUS POMPEIUS. 

He tells Pompeius that it shows a want of affection, not to have men- 
tioned him in his lines ; as he has received services at his hands which 
deserve never to be forgotten. He confesses that through his assistance 
he was saved, and that by his kindness he still exists. 

Receive, Sextus Pompeius, a poem composed by him, who is 
indebted to thee for his life. If thou dost not forbid thy name 
to be placed there by me, that will be added as the crowning 
point to thy deserts. But if thou contractest thy brow, in 
truth, I shall confess that I have done wrong. Still the cause 
of my fault is a praiseworthy one ; my feelings could not be 
withheld from being grateful. Let not thy anger, I pray, be 
heavy against this affectionate mark of attachment. Oh! how 
often did I appear to myself ungrateful in these my books, be- 
cause thou wast to be read of in no part of them ! ! how 
often, when I was intending to write another name, has my 
right hand unconsciously traced thy name on the wax ! My 
very mistake pleased me, in a slip like this ; and with difficulty 
was the blotting out of thy name made with unwilling hand. 
He must see it at last, said I ; though he should complain, I 
am ashamed that I have not deserved this censure sooner. 1 
Give me the stream of Lethe, that takes away the memory, and 
yet I cannot be forgetful of thee. I entreat thee to permit it 
to be so, and not to repel my words, as though disdained by 
thee ; and do not consider there to be any ground for censure in 
my attachment. Let this slight mark of affection repay thy 

1 Deserved this censure sooner.'] — Ver. 16. His meaning seems to be, 
that he felt convinced, that whenever he should write, his friend would 
certainly answer him, upbraiding him with his neglect ; and that he is 
ashamed that he has so long deferred writing, and thereby bringing upon 
himself the censure that he merits. 



ft. i.] OF OYID. 443 

great deserts ; but if not, I will be grateful, even against thv 
will. Thy kindness was never idle about my welfare ; thy chest 
never denied me its bounteous riches. Now too, thy benevo- 
lence, not at all alarmed by the suddenness of my downfall, 
gives aid to my existence, and will do so. 

For what reason, perhaps thou mayst enquire, have I so 
great confidence in the future ? Every one has regard for the 
work which he has completed. As the Venus, who is wringing 
her hair dripping with the ocean wave, is the production and 
the glory of the artist of Cos ; 2 as the warlike Goddess stands, 
formed by the hand of Phidias, 3 the guardian, either in ivory 
or in bronze, of the Athenian citadel ; as Calamis 4 asserts the 
glory of the horses which he has made ; as the heifer of 
Myron 5 resembles life ; so I, Sextus, not the slightest portion 
of thy works, am esteemed to be the gift and the produce of 
thy protection. 



EPISTLE II.— TO SEVERUS. 

He writes to the Poet Severus, and excuses himself, on several grounds, 
for not having yet mentioned his name in his Pontic writings ; although 
he has not omitted repeatedly to send him letters, written in prose. 

What thou art reading, Severus, most illustrious poet of the 
great kings, 6 comes even from amid the unshorn Getse. I am 
ashamed (if only thou wilt allow me to speak the truth), that 

2 The artist of Cos.~\ — Ver. 29. This was Apeiles, the painter, who was 
a native of Cos, an island of the iEgean sea. His most famous painting 
was the one here mentioned, of Venus Anadyomene, or Venus rising from 
the sea. 

3 The hand of Phidias. ,] — Ver. 32. He was an Athenian, and the most 
celebrated of the Grecian sculptors. He made a statue of Minerva, twenty 
cubits in height, and formed of ivory and gold. It was in a standing posi- 
tion, and was erected in the citadel of Athens. He also made a statue in 
bronze, of the same Goddess, which was remarkable for its extreme 
beauty. 

4 Calamis.'] — Ver. 33. Calamis was an artist of great celebrity. His 
statues of horses were considered to be unrivalled. 

5 Myron.'] — Ver. 34. He was a famous sculptor, whose most celebrated 
work was the figure of a heifer. Pliny the Elder makes mention of it. 

6 Poet of the great kings.] — Ver. 1. He means, by this expression, to 
address him as a tragic poet ; as kings, and persons of exalted station, were 
generally the subjects of tragedy, while persons of the humbler classes 
usually figured in comedy. 



444 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 

as yet my books have not mentioned thy name. Yet the affec- 
tionate letter, devoid of poetic numbers, has never ceased to be 
exchanged between us. 'Tis verses alone, signifying my 
grateful attachment, that have not been sent thee. For why 
should I send that which thou makest thyself? Who would 
give honey to Aristseus ? wine to Falernian Bacchus ? corn to 
Triptolemus ? apples to Alcinoiis ? Thou hast a prolific fancy, 
and for no one among the cultivators of Helicon does that 
crop spring up more abundantly. To send verses to such a 
one as this, would be to heap leaves in the woods. This, 
Severus, was the cause of my delay. Nor yet does my genius 
favour me, as formerly ; but I plough a dry sea-shore with a 
barren plough-share. As, forsooth, the slime chokes up the 
springs in the waters, and the stream, obstructed, is kept back 
in the fountain stopped up, so have my abilities been destroyed 
by the slime of my misfortunes ; and my verses flow from a 
less prolific source. Had any one placed Homer himself in this 
country, even he, believe me, would have become a Getan. 

Pardon the confession : I have given a loose rem to my pur- 
suits, and few are the letters that are traced by my fingers. 
That holy inspiration, which fosters the genius of poets, which 
was once wont to exist in me, is gone. The Muse scarcely 
attends to her duty; scarcely, when compelled, does she give 
her tardy hands to the writing tablets when taken up. I have 
little pleasure in writing, not to say none ; and I take no delight 
in connecting words in poetic numbers. Either it is, because 
I have derived no advantage thence, inasmuch as 'twas that 
thing that was the beginning of my woes ; or, it is because it 
is the same thing to dance to time in the dark, as to write 
verses which you can read to no one. A listener sharpens 
one's energy ; and excellence, when approved of, still in- 
creases. Applause, too, gives an immense stimulus. Here, to 
whom can I recite my writings, except to the yellow-haired 
Coralli, and the other tribes which the country of the barba- 
rian Danube contains ? But what can I do alone ? and on 
what subject can I wear away my wretched hours of idleness, 
and beguile the day ? For, since neither wine, nor deceiving 
games of chance, have any charms for me, by means of which 
time is wont stealthily to pass away in silence ; nor, as I could 
wish, if savage warfare would allow it, does the earth, renewed 
in its cultivation, amuse me ; what remains for me but a cold 



ft. II.] OF OTID. 44i) 

solace, the Pierian maids, Goddesses who have not deserved 
well of me. But do thou, by whom the Aonian fountain is 
drunk of with more success, cherish a pursuit which turns out 
to thy advantage ; and deservedly venerate the rites of the 
Muses, and send hither some production of thy recent labours, 
for me to read. 



EPISTLE III.— TO A FAITHLESS FRIEND. 

He rebukes the perfidious and fickle conduct of a former friend, whose 
name he conceals ; since, although he had been on the strictest intimacy 
with him from his earliest childhood, he has not only deserted him in 
his adversity, but has even pretended that he knew him not. He con- 
cludes, by recommending him to keep in mind the vicissitudes of For- 
tune, and her inconstancy. 

Sh^ll I complain, or shall I hold my peace ? Shall I write 
the charge without the name, or shall I will it to be known to 
all who thou art ? I will not use thy name, lest thou shouldst be 
graced by my censure ; and, lest fame should be obtained by 
thee, through my verse. So long as my bark was in good con- 
dition, with strong keel, thou wast the first to be willing to 
take a passage by me. Now, because Fortune has contracted 
her brow, thou withdrawest ; at a time when thou knowest that 
I stand in need of thy aid. Thou feignest ignorance, too, 
and thou wishest not to seem to have known me ; and, when thou 
nearest my name, thou enquirest, " Who is this Naso V 9 

I am he ; although thou dost not wish to hear it, who, when 
almost a boy, was united with thee, then a boy, in early friend- 
ship. I am he, who was first accustomed to know thy serious 
thoughts, and the first to be present at thy joyous sports. I was 
thy comrade, and thy friend in the most intimate acquaintance- 
ship ; I was the only poet, in thy judgment ; I am the same one, 
perfidious man, of whom thou now knowest not whether I am 
living, or not ; about whom 'twas no care of thine to make en- 
quiry. If I have never been dear to thee, then thou confessest 
to have acted the hypocrite ; if thou didst not pretend it, thou 
wilt be proved to he inconsistent. Tell me now, come, tell me, 
what offence it is that has thus changed thee ; for, unless thy 
complaint is a just one, mine is just. What thing is it that now 
forbids thee to be like wiiat thou w r ast formerly? Dost thou call 
it a crime, because I began to be unfortunate ? If thou didst 



446 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 

give me no assistance in reality, and by deeds, yet there might 
have come from thee a paper inscribed with two or three words. 
For my part, I hardly believe it ; but report says, that thou dost 
insult me thus prostrate, and art not sparing of thy words. 

What art thou doing, madman? Why art thou withdraw- 
ing tears from thy own wreck, supposing that Fortune should 
abandon thee ? That Goddess confesses how changeable she 
is on her unsteady wheel, which she ever keeps on its edge, 
under her wavering foot ; she is more fleeting than a leaf 
or than any breeze. Thy fickleness, thou faithless one, 
is alone equal to her. All that belongs to man is pendent 
from a slender thread, and that which was firm falls head- 
long with a sudden descent. By whom has not the wealth of 
the rich Croesus been heard of? and yet, as a captive, he re- 
ceived his life from an enemy. 7 He who was but just now 
dreaded in the city of Syracuse, with difficulty repelled cruel 
hunger by a lowly employment. 8 Who was greater than he 
styled "the Great?" 9 and yet, in his flight, with imploring 
voice, he entreated aid of his dependant ; and the very man 
whom the whole world obeyed, was rendered more needy than 
all besides. Marius, the man who was made illustrious by the 
triumphs over Jugurtha and the Cimbri, under whom, oft as he 
w r as Consul, Rome was triumphant, lay concealed in the mud 10 
amid fhe reeds of the marsh, and endured many things dis- 
graceful to so great a man. The Divine power finds sport in 

7 From an enemy. ] — Ver. 38. Croesus, the rich and powerful king of 
Lydia, being conquered by Cyrus the Great, was condemned to be burnt, 
and being placed on the pile, recalled to mind the remarks of Solon, on the 
instability of human affairs. Cyrus, being struck with the circumstance, 
and the wondrous mutation of his enemy's fortunes, pardoned him. 

8 By a lowly employment.'] — Ver. 40. Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily, 
uQmg expelled from Syracuse, fled to Corinth, where he earned a livelihood 
by pursuing the calling of a schoolmaster. 

9 He styled * the Great?] — Ver. 41. He here alludes to the miserable 
end of Pompey the Great. 

10 Concealed in the mud.] — Ver. 57. Marius, flying from the faction of 
Sylla, was obliged to seek safety by hiding among the reeds in the marshes 
of Minturnse. Being discovered, he was thrown into prison, and a Cimbrian 
slave being sent there to put him to death, he was so struck by the 
majestic dignity of his countenance, that he was unable to perform his 
cruel mission. Marius defeated Jugurtha, the king of Numidia, in Africa, 
and defeated the Cimbri, a powerful people of Germany, who had invaded 
Italy. 



E. III. j 



OF OVID. 447 



the affairs of men, and the present moment hardly carries cer- 
tainty. Had any one said to me, " Thou wilt go to the shores 
of the Euxine, and wilt be in dread, lest thou be wounded by 
the bow of the Getan;" I would have said, " Go and drink those 
potions that cure the mind ; and whatever beside is produced 
in the whole of Anticyra." 11 Yet, this I have endured; and 
even if I could have defended myself against mortal weapons, I 
could not, as well, have provided against those of the Gods. 
Do thou then feel apprehensive, and believe, that that can 
turn out sad, which, while thou art speaking, seems joyful. 



EPISTLE IV.— TO SEXTUS POMPEIUS. 

He says that no state is so utterly wretched as not to have some inter- 
mixture of joy ; and he shows how that has been his lot. He says that, 
as he walked along the sea shore, Fame told him that Pompeius would 
be Consul for the ensuing year, and that this has afforded him ex- 
treme pleasure. He then laments that he cannot be present to see his 
friend assume the Consulate ; but entreats him sometimes to bestow a 
thought on him in his exile. 

No day is so far surcharged with clouds, borne by the South 
winds, that the showers now in torrents without intermission. 
No spot is so barren, that there is not generally in it some 
useful plant, mingled with the rough brambles. Misfortune 
has made nothing so wretched, that pleasure does not diminish 
the evil by some cessation. Lo ! I, deprived of my home, my 
country, and the sight of my family, am driven in my shipwreck, 
to the waters of the Getic shores ; and yet I have found a cause 
for relaxing my brow and not remembering my lot. 

For while, in my sadness, I was pacing the yellow sands, a 
wing behind me seemed to make a faint noise. I looked back : 
there was no person that I could see ; yet, these words were 
caught by my ear — " Behold, I, Fame, am come to thee, the 
messenger of joyful things, having glided along immense tracts 
through the air. The next year will be auspicious and happy, 
when Pompeius shall be Consul, than whom no one is dearer 
to thee. 55 She spoke ; and soon as she filled Pontus with the 

11 Anticyra.] — Ver. 54. This was an island near the coast of Phocis. 
It was remarkable for the quantity of hellebore which grew there, the juice 
of which plant was supposed by the ancients to be curative of madness. 



448 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [> iv. 

ioyous news, the Goddess hurried her steps thence to other 
nations. But, my cares dispersed amid my recent joy, the in- 
tolerable ruggedness of this place was forgotten by me. There- 
fore, when, Janus with the two heads ! thou shalt have unlocked 
the long year, and December shall have been expelled by the 
month sacred to thee, the purple of the supreme dignity shall 
array Pompeius, that he may bexiencient in no oneof his honours. 
I seem already to behold the inmost parts of the house 
bursting with the" multitude, and the people crushed for want 
of space : and the temple of the Tarpeian abode, for the 
first time entered by thee, and the Gods readily acceding to 
thy prayers ; the snow-white bulls, too, which the Faliscan grass 
has fed on its plains, yielding their necks to the unerring axe. 
And when thou hast begged all the Gods to be propitious to 
thee, and some most especially ; there will be Ceesar along with 
Jove. The Senate-house will receive thee, and the Senators, 
convoked according to custom, will give ear to thy words. 
When, with its eloquent utterance, thy voice shall have glad- 
dened these ; and, as it is wont, the day shall have produced its 
words of congratulation; and thou shalt have given the merited 
thanks to the Gods above, together with Ceesar, who will afford 
reason for thee often to do so : then thou shalt return home, 
the whole Senate accompanying thee ; thy house being hardly 
able to hold the respectful multitude. Ah ! wretched am I ! 
that I am not to be seen in that crowd ; and that my eyes will 
not be able to enjoy these things ! Although far away, I shall 
behold thee, so far as I can, in my mind : it will look upon 
the features of its own Consul. May the Gods cause my name, 
at some time, to recur to thee, and thee to say— "Alas ! what 
is that unfortunate man doing ?" Should any one bear to me 
these words of thine, I will confess that my exile will at once 
become more endurable. 

EPISTLE V.— TO SEXTUS POMPEIUS, WHEN CONSUL. 

TYie Poet is supposed to be addressing his own lines, before sending them 
to Pompeius, to whom he wrote the last Epistle ; he states his message, 
and the extreme obligations he is under to Pompeius, declaring, that 
through his kindness he has become his property. He then prays him 
to continue to preserve that life which he has already saved. 

Go, humble Elegiacs, to the learned ear of the Consul, and 



OE OVID. * 449 

bear words to be read by a man, honoured by his office. Long- 
is the road, and ye speed onward, with uneven feet ; and the 
earth lies hid, concealed under the wintry snow. After you shall 
have passed over cold Thrace, and Hoemon capt with clouds, 
and the waters of the Ionian Sea : in less than ten days you 
will arrive at the City, the mistress of the ivorld, although you 
should not make a hurried progress. Then, straightway, let 
the house of Pompeius be sought by you ; none is nearer 
to the Forum of Augustus. If any one of the multitude 
should inquire who ye are, and whence : let him, with de- 
ceived ear, hear any names you please. For, although it may 
be safe to confess, as indeed I think it is, undoubtedly a false 
account causes less fear. You will have no opportunity, too, 
of seeing the Consul, some one preventing you when you 
have arrived at the threshold. Either he will be ruling his 
own Quirites, by pronouncing judgment, when, on high, he 
shall be seated on the ivory chair, conspicuous with its carvings ; 
or he will be adjusting the revenues of the people by the 
erected spear, 12 and he will not allow the resources of the great 
City to be diminished. Or, when the Senators shall have been 
summoned to the temple built by Julius Ccesar, he will be 
transacting business worthy of so great a Consul. Or, he 
will be giving the wonted salutation to Augustus and his son, 
and will be asking advice on the duties not yet well-known' to 
him. After these, Caesar Germanicus will occupy all his spare 
time ; to him he pays respect, next after the great Gods. 

But, when he shall have rested, after the anxieties of these 
matters, to you will he extend his beneficent hands : and, per- 
haps, he will enquire what I, your parent, am doing. I wish 
you to answer him in words like these : " He is still living, and 
to thee, he confesses that he owes the life, which, in the first 
place, he holds as a gift from the benignant Csesar. With 
grateful lips, he is wont to repeat, that thou, when he went 
into exile, didst point out a safe road through the lands of 
barbarism ; that through the anxiety of thy mind it was ef- 

12 By the elected spear.]— Ver. 19. The public revenues were farmed 
out, or sold, under the superintendence of the Consul, to the highest bid- 
der. In auctions, a spear was usually erected, which was said to have been 
a symbol, derived from the old and summary practice of selling under a 
spear the booty acquired in war. Hence, the phrase ' Sub hastavendere/ 
means, ' to sell by auction.' 

G G 



450 * THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 

fected, that he did not make the Bistonian snow warm with 
his blood. That there were many presents besides added 
to the preservation of his life, that he might not exhanst his 
own resources. That due thanks may be returned for these 
kindnesses, he swears that he will be thy property for slM/u ture 
time ; for that, first shall the mountains be destitute of the 
shady tree, and the seas shall have no sailing ships, and the 
rivers shall again return to their springs, by streams flowing 
upward ; before gratitude for thy kindness can pass away." 
When you have said these things, entreat him to preserve 
what is his gift : and so, the purpose of your journey will 
have been fulfilled. 



EPISTLE VI.— TO BRUTUS. 

He says that he has now passed five years in Pontus ; and that Fabius Maxi- 
mus is dead, in whose intercession in his behalf he had centered hishopes. 
He admits, however, that Brutus has shown equal affection towards 
him. He enlarges upon the virtues and abilities of Brutus, and de- 
clares that he never will be ungrateful for the kindnesses of those friends, 
who have been faithful in their attachment during his adversity. 

The Epistle, which thou art reading, Brutus, comes to thee 
from those regions in which it would not be thy wish for Naso 
to be. But that which thou wouldst not wish, my wretched 
destiny has willed. Ah me ! it is more powerful than are thy 
desires ! An Olympiad of five years 13 has been spent by me 
in Scythia ; time is now passing into the period of a second 
lustrum. For stubborn Fortune still persists, and insidiously 
opposes her spiteful foot to my wishes. Thou hadst resolved, 
Maximus, the light of the Fabian house, to speak to the Di- 
vinity of Augustus, with suppliant voice, in my behalf. Thou 
didst die, before thou hadst preferred thy entreaties, and I be- 
lieve, Maximus, that I was the cause of thy death ; not such 
was my value. I now dread to entrust my safety to anyone. 
Aid itself perished with thy death, Augustus had begun to 

13 A n Olympiad of jive years.'] — Ver. 5. The Olympiad was a period of 
four years, which intervened between each celebration of the Olympic 
games, which were held at Olympia, in Elis. The Olympiads began to be 
reckoned from the year 776 b.c. Ovid calls an Olympiad ' quinquennis,' 
as consisting of four complete years, and terminating just at the com- 
mencement of a fifth. 



e. vi.] or ottd. 451 

pardon my fault, committed through deception : he has aban- 
doned my hopes, and the earth at the same moment. And 
yet, Brutus, I, placed here far away, have placed before 
thee, a poem, such as I could, on the newly-made inhabitant 
of the heavens. May that act of piety, be favourable to 
me ; and may there be a limit now to my woes, and may 
the anger of that holy family be moderated. I could swear for 
certain, that thou too, Brutus, known to me by no uncertain 
signs, prayest the same thing. For, whereas thou hast ever 
shown me sincere affection, still did that affection wax 
stronger in the hour of adversity. Whoever had beheld thy 
tears and mine together, would have supposed that both of us 
were about to undergo punishment. Nature produced thee 
kind to the wretched, and gave not a more benignant heart 
to any one, Brutus, than to thee. So that, if any one were 
ignorant what is thy power in the warfare of the courts, he 
could hardly suppose that the accused are pursued to convic- 
tion by thy lips. In truth, it belongs to the same person, 
although there appears to be a discrepancy, to be gentle to 
the suppliant, to be terrible to the guilty. When the vindica- 
tion of the rigid law has been undertaken by thee, each of 
thy words has, as it were, venom infused. May it be the lot 
of thy enemies to find how impetuous thou art in warfare, and 
to feel the weapons of thy tongue. These are sharpened by 
thee with a care so imperceptible, that all deny that thy genius 
belongs to that body of thine. But if thou seeest any one 
crushed by cruel Fortune, no woman is more pitying than are 
thy feelings. This I especially was sensible of ; when a great 
part of my acquaintances denied all knowledge of me. I shall 
be forgetful of them, but never forgetful of you, my friends, who 
have anxiously alleviated my misfortunes. And first shall 
the Danube (too close to me, alas !) turn its course from the 
Euxine sea to its source ; and, as though the days of the feast 
of Thyestes 14 had returned, the chariot of the sun be driven 
towards the Eastern waves ; before anyone of you, who have 
mourned me thus torn away, can prove that I, in my ingrati- 
tude, have not remembered him. 

14 Feast of Thyestes.'] — Yer. 47. When Atreus served up the children 
of Thyestes, to be eaten by their father, according to the fable, the sun 
ran back in his course, being struck with horror at the atrocity of the 
deed. The story has been more fully referred to in a previous Note. 

gg2 



452 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 



EPISTLE VII.— TO VESTALIS, 

Vestalis having been sent to assume the command in the regions of 
Pontus, Ovid calls upon him to witness the truth of his assertions, as to 
the wretched nature of that country ; he then enlarges upon the valour 
of Vestalis, and promises that his exploits shall he commemorated by 
his verse to all futurity. 

Shstce, Vestalis, thou hast been sent to the waves of the 
Euxine, that thou mayst dispense justice in regions situate 
under the Pole, thou beholdest, thyself being present, in 
what kind of a land I am placed ; and thou wilt be a witness 
that I am not accustomed to make idle complaints. Young 
man, sprung from the Alpine kings, by thy aid undoubted 
confidence will be given to my words. Thou thyself seeest, 
no doubt, that Pontus is hardened with frosts ; thou thyself 
behold est the wine frozen with hard ice : thou thyself be- 
ll oldest how the lazygian herdsman leads his laden waggons 
over the midst of the waters. Thou seeest, too, the poison 
hurled beneath the barbed steel, and the arrow bearing a double 
cause of death. And would that this portion had been only be- 
held by thee, and that it had not, too, been known by thee 
in personal combat ! Thou didst aspire to the office of a Chief 
Centurion, through many a danger ; an honour which of late 
deservedly fell to thy lot. Although this dignity be abounding 
for thee in plenteous advantages, 15 yet valour itself will be the 
first in rank. This the Danube cannot deny, whose waters thy 
right hand once made red with Getic blood. This iEgypsus 10 
cannot deny, which, retaken, when thou didst enter it, was 
sensible that there was no advantage in the natural resources 
of the place ; for that city was even with the clouds, on the top 
of a mountain ridge, and it is doubtful whether it ivas better 
defended by position or art. The savage enemy had taken 
it from the Sithonian king, and, victorious, possessed the 
intercepted wealth ; until Vitellius 17 bore his standards, car- 

15 In plenteous advantages.] — Ver. 17. The office of Chief Centurion, 
or ' Primipilus/ was extremely lucrative, in the advantages and emolu- 
ments that accompanied it. 

16 JEgypsus.~\ — Ver. 21. This was a well fortified town, situate in the 
Scythian territory, on an eminence near the banks of the Danube. 

17 Vitellius.} — Ver. 27. History is silent as to any further particulars 
relative to this officer. 



e. vn.] or ovid. 453 

ried along the waves of the stream, among the Getse, his 
soldiers having landed. But, most valiant descendant of the 
ancient Daunus, ls an impulse came on thee to go against the 
opposing enemy. There was no delay. Conspicuous afar, in 
glittering arms, thou takest care that deeds of bravery shall not 
be concealed ; and, with rapid strides, thou advancest against 
both steel and the fortified place and the stones, more numerous 
than the hail of midwinter. Neither the multitude of javelins, 
hurled upon thee, nor yet the darts which are reeking with the 
blood of the viper, stop thee ; the arrows with their coloured 
feathers bristle on thy helmet, and hardly is any part of thy shield 
without a wound ; nor does thy body fortunately escape all 
blows, but pain is inferior to the love of glory. In such 
manner, at Troy, Ajax is said in defence of the Grecian ships to 
have warded off the torches hurled by Hector. When thou hadst 
now approached nearer, and the combat was hand to hand, 
and the fight could be waged with the fierce sword at close 
quarters ; 'tis difficult to say what thy courage there per- 
formed, and how many thou didst put to death, and whom, 
and in what manner. Thou, victorious, didst tread upon heaps 
made by thy sword ; and many a Getan was under thy foot 
placed upon him. The next in rank fights after the example 
of the Chief Centurion ; 19 and the soldiers both give and receive 
many a wound ; but thy valour as much outshines the others, 
as Pegasus did in speed the swift horses. iEgypsus is taken, 
and, Vestalis, thy exploits have been attested in my verse to 
$>)& future time. 

EPISTLE VIII.— TO SUILLIUS. 

After the death of Augustus, Ovid writes to Suillius, the son-in-law of 
his wife, and thanks him for his letter, late as it is, which he has just 
received. He asks him to entreat Germanicus in his behalf, and he 
promises, not to erect in his honour marhle temples, hut to sing his 
praises in his poems. He then shows that it is most becoming to ex- 
press gratitude to princes in poetical effusions. He extols the merits of 
poesy, and prays that his verses may conduce to his own advantage ; and 
concludes by saying, that if he is denied permission to return to his 
country, still, a place of exile, nearer to Rome, will give him a better 
opportunity of celebrating the exploits of Csesar. 

Stjillitts, graced by studious pursuits, thy letter arrived here 

18 Daunus.~\ — Ver. 29. He was king of the Rutulians, who settled in 
xVpulia, and was the father of Turnus and Juturna. 

19 The Chief Centurion.']--Ver. 49. * Primi pili.' This was the First, 



454 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 

safe, late, but still pleasing to me. In it, thou sayest that if 
affectionate esteem can soften the Gods above by entreaties, 
thou wilt give me assistance. Though hitherto thou hast 
availed nothing, I am indebted for thy friendly disposition ; 
and I call it a kindness to have the wish to aid. May only this 
anxiety of thine last to a late period ; and may thy affection 
be not worn out by my misfortunes. The links of connexion 
make a certain tie between us ; and that they may ever remain 
unbroken, is my prayer. For she who is thy wife, the same is 
almost my daughter : and she w r ho calls thee son-in-law, calls 
me husband. Wretched am I, if thou contractest thy brow 
when thou readest these lines, and art ashamed to be my con- 
nexion ! But thou wilt be able to find here nothing deserving 
of shame, except Fortune, who proved blind for me. Shouldst 
thou trace my pedigree ; we shall be found to be Knights, 
from the earliest stock, even through unnumbered ances- 
tors. Shouldst thou wish to enquire what is my character ; 
take away my mistake from wretched me, and it is free 
from blemish. Only do thou, if thou shalt have a hope that 
anything can be done by entreaty, implore the Deities, with 
suppliant voice, wiiom thou dost venerate. Thy Gods are the 
youthful Caesar; appease thy own Divinities ; assuredly no altar 
is better known to thee than this. It never suffers the entrea- 
ties of its worshippers to be in vain ; hence seek relief for my 
fortunes. Should it aid me with a breeze ever so small, my 
sunk bark will rise again from the midst of the waves. Then 
will I offer the solemn frankincense in the burning flames, and 
I will testify how great is the power of the Gods. But I will 
not erect to thee, Germanicus, a temple of Parian marble. 
This downfall has diminished my property ; let thy own 
family and rich cities erect temples to thee ; Naso will show 
his gratitude with his verses, which are his wealth. I con- 
fess, indeed, that but small gifts are returned for large ones, 
when I give but words in return for my deliverance granted 
to me. But he is abundantly grateful, who gives the most 
he can ; affection thereby reaches its limits. The frankin- 

or Chief Centurion, of the first maniple of the Triarii. He was originally 
called ' Centurio Primus/ and afterwards ' Centurio Primipili,' or, as in 
the present instance, ' Primipilus. , He was next in rank to the military 
Tribunes, and sat on the military council. In his charge, too, was the 
eagle of the legion, whence he obtained the title of ' Aquilifer.' 



e. viii.] OF OYID. 455 

cense which the poor man offers to the Gods out of the little 
censer, is not less availing than that which is offered out of a 
broad charger. The sucking lamb, too, just as much as the 
victim fed on the Faliscan pasturage, when slain, stains with 
its blood the Tarpeian altars. And indeed, nothing is more 
pleasing to men of regal dignity than gratitude expressed 
through the verse of poets. Verses perform the heralding of 
your praises, and they provide that the fame of your actions 
be not fleeting. By verse is valour made immortal; and, 
free from death, it obtains the notice of late posterity. 

Decaying age consumes both iron and stone ; and no one 
thing has greater power than time. Writings survive the 
length of years ; through writings hast thou known of 
Agamemnon, and who bore arms against him, or who, with 
him. Who, without verse, could have known of Thebes and 
the seven chiefs, and of what took place after these things, 
and what before ? The Gods, too, (if I may be allowed to say 
so,) exist through poetry ; and majesty so great has need of 
the voice of one to celebrate it. 

'Tis thus we know that Chaos, when divided, derived its 
parts from that original mass of early nature ; thus, that the 
Giants aspiring to the realms of heaven were hurled to Styx 
by the storm-bearing fires of the Avenger. 'Twas thus that 
the victorious Bacchus received glory from the conquest of 
the Indians ; Alcides, from the taking of (Echalia ; 20 and 
lately, in some degree, verse hallowed thy grandsire, whom his 
virtues added to the number of the stars. If then, there is 
any life at all still remaining in my genius, it shall all be at 
thy service. Thyself a poet, thou canst not despise the 
homage of a poet ; according to thy own judgment, that 
pursuit has its worth ; and had not so great an influence in- 
vited thee to loftier objects, thou wouldst have been the 
especial glory of the Pierian maids. But it was more glorious 
to afford us a subject-matter, than verses ; and yet thou canst 
not entirely abandon them. For at one time thou art waging 
war ; at another, thou art fitting thy words into measure, and 
what is* a business to others, the same is a sport to thee. 

20 (Echalia.'] — Ver. 62. Hercules made war on Eurytus, the king of 
(Echalia, whom he killed, together with his sons. He took and plundered 
the town, and led Iole away captive, to gain whom he had undertaken the 
expedition. 



456 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [ B . IV. 

And as Apollo is slow at neither the lyre, nor the bow, but 
either string comes in contact with his sacred hands ; so art 
thou defective in neither the arts of the scholar nor those of 
the Prince ; but the Muse is united with Jove in thy intellect. 
And inasmuch as she has not removed me from that stream, 
which the hollowed hoof of the Gorgon steed has formed, 
may she aid me, and may she give me assistance in perform- 
ing the rites that are common to us, and in applying my hand 
to the same pursuits ; in order that I may, at length, escape 
from the shores too much exposed to the Coralli clad in hides, 
and from the cruel Getee ; and, if my country is shut against 
wretched me, that I may be located in any place, that is less 
distant from the Ausonian City g from which I may be able to 
sing thy new-born praises, and to relate thy great exploits, with 
the least possible delay. 

Implore for one who is almost thy step-father, dear Suillius 5 
that this prayer may influence the Divinities of the heavens. 



EPISTLE IX.— TO GIL3BCINUS. 

The Poet, having been informed that Graeeinus is Consul elect, laments 
that he is away from Rome, and cannot share in the general joy, or take 
part in the ceremonial ; and such being the case, he bids his letter per- 
form his part. He requests Graeeinus to entreat in his behalf that he 
may return ; and he says that his joy is increased by the fact that 
Flaccus, the brother of Graeeinus, will succeed him in the Consulship, 
whose good offices he also entreats. He concludes by enlarging upon 
the miseries of his exile. 

Naso sends thee this salutation, Greecinus, from the Euxine waves, 
from a spot whence it is permitted him, not whence he delights, 
to do so. And may the Gods grant that, thus sent, it may 
arrive on that morn, which shall be the first to present thee 
with the twice six fasces. 21 And since without me, thou, as 
Consul, wilt approach the Capitol, and I shall not be a portion 
of thy retinue ; let my letter act the part of its master, and 
perform the duty of thy friend on the day appointed. Had I 

21 Twice six fasces.'] — Ver. 4. The Consuls were attended by twelve 
Lictors, without whom they never appeared in public. These preceded the 
Consul in a line, one behind another. The one that went last, or nearest 
to the magistrate, was he to whom the requisite commands were given, 
and he was called ' Proximus Lictor.' 



e. ix,] or oyid. 457 

been born under better destinies, and had my chariot sped on- 
ward with unbroken wheel, my tongue would have performed 
the duty of saluting thee, which now my hand discharges, 
by means of my writing. Congratulating thee, I would have 
given thee kisses with complimentary words ; and that honour 
would not have less been mine than thy own. On that day 
(I confess it) I should have been so proud, that hardly any 
house could have contained my pride. And while the body 
of the venerable Senate attended at thy side, I, of Equestrian 
rank, should have been seen going before 22 the feet of the 
Consul. And although I could wish ever to be close to 
thee, I should have rejoiced not to have had my place at thy 
side. And I should not have been complaining, even if I had 
been squeezed by the crowd ; but it would then have been a 
pleasure to me to be pressed by the populace. I should have 
beheld, in my joy, how lengthened was the train of the proces- 
sion, and how dense a crowd occupied the long road. And that 
thou mayst the better know how trifling matters influence me, 
I should have looked to see what kind of purple clothed thee. 
I should also have observed the wrought statues on the curule 
chair, and all the sculptured work of the Numidian tusk. 23 
And when thou shouldst have been escorted to the Tarpeian 
heights, until the devoted victim should fall by thy order, the 
great God, who dwells in the midst of the temple, should have 
heard me in secret giving him thanks. I would also have 
offered frankincense, with a mind three or four times more 
bounteous than the charger containing it, overjoyed by the 
honours of thy dignity. Here should I have been numbered 
among thy friends then present : if only my destinies had 
auspiciously given rne permission to be in the City : and that 
pleasure which now is conceived by my mind, could then have 
been enjoyed by my eyes. It seemed not thus to the inhabit- 
ants of heaven, and perhaps, with justice ; for what can it 

22 Seen going before,'] — Ver. 18. In the Consular procession, it was 
customary for the Equestrian order to precede the Senators. It appears 
that it is from the enjoyment of this right of precedence, that the Poet 
says that he should be required, during the time of the procession, to leave 
his place by the side of the Consul. 

23 Of the Numidian tusk."]— Ver. 28.' It has before been observed, 
that the curule chair was made of, or decorated with, ivory. The greater 
part of the ivory used by the Romans, was most likely to be the produce 
of Numidia, and other provinces of the north of Africa. 



458 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. IV. 

avail me to deny the cause of my punishment ? And yet I 
will use my mental powers, which alone are not banished from 
the spot, and so will I behold thy Consular robe 24 and thy 
Fasces. They only shall behold thee, dispensing justice to the 
people, and shall feign to be present in thy places of privacy. 
At one moment, they shall behold thee setting up to auction, 
under the spear, the revenues of a long lustrum, and letting 
out each thing with a scrupulous fidelity ; at another time, 
eloquently speaking in the midst of the Senate, discussing 
what the public welfare requires ; at another time, decreeing 
thanks to the Gods above, on account of the Caesars, and 
striking the white necks of the choice bulls. 

And would that, when thou shalt have already prayed for 
things of more consequence, thou wouldst entreat that the 
wrath of the Deity against me be appeased ! May, at these 
words, the sacred fire shoot upwards from the laden altar, and 
may the pointed flame, in its brilliancy, give a good omen to 
thy prayers. Meanwhile, in so far as I may, that I may not 
ever be in querulous mood, I will celebrate here, too, the fes- 
tive day on thy Consulship. Another cause of joy, and one 
that yields not to the first — thy brother shall be thy successor 
in an honour so great. For, as thy rule, Grsecinus, is finished 
on the last day of December, he commences it on the day of 
Janus ; and, such is the affection between you, you will share 
your joys alternately, thou in the Consular dignity of thy 
brother, he in thine. Thus thou wilt have become twice 
Consul, and twice Consul, he : and in thy family will be be- 
held a twofold honour : which, great though it is, and though 
Rome sprung from Mars, beholds no sway more lofty than 
that of the supreme Consul ; yet the dignity of the giver 
amplifies this honour, and a thing that is given partakes of 
the majesty of him who confers it. May it, then, be granted 
thy brother Flaccus, and thyself, to enjoy such marks of the 
good opinion of Augustus at all times. But when you shall 
have leisure, from the care of affairs more connected with your- 
selves, I entreat you, add your prayers to mine. And if the 

24 Thy Consular robe.'] — Ver. 42. Literally, 'prsetexta.' The 'toga 
praetexta ' had a broad purple border. It was worn by the children of 
both sexes, and by the magistrates of Rome, the Municipia, and the 
colonies, and by the priests, and those engaged in the sacred rites. It is 
said to have been first derived from the Etrurians. 



E. IX.] OF OYID. 459 

breeze shall at all swell the sail, loosen the ropes, 25 that my 
bark may take its departure from the Stygian waters. Flaccus 
was lately the governor of these regions, Grsecinus ; and, 
under his rule, the savage banks of the Danube were in safety. 
He kept the Mysian nations in constant peace ; he, by his 
sword, alarmed the Getse that trust in the bow. By prompt 
valour he recovered Trosmis, 26 that had been taken, and tinted 
the Danube with barbarian blood. Inquire of him, what is the 
aspect of this spot ? and ivhat are the miseries of a Scythian 
climate? and by how near an enemy I am kept in alarm? 
whether or not the slender arrows are dipt in the venom 
of the serpent ? or whether human lives are not the sad vic- 
tims ? whether I tell an untruth, or the hardened ocean freezes 
with the cold, and the ice extends many hundred yards 27 out 
to sea ? When he has told thee these things, inquire of him 
what is said of me, and ask in what manner I spend my 
tedious time. I am not hated here, nor, in truth/ do I deserve 
to be ; and my disposition has not changed together with my 
fortune. That peace of mind remains, which thou wast wont 
to praise, that former modest demeanour, as usual, on my 
countenance. Thus am I far away, thus am I here, where a 
barbarian enemy causes cruel arms to have more power than 
laws ; whereas no woman, man or boy, Graecinus, for now so 
many years, can have any ground of complaint against me. 
This is the cause, why the people of Tomi wish me well, and 
assist me, since this land can testify in my favour. They 
prefer that I should depart, because they see that I wish it ; 
yet, in regard to themselves, they wish me to be here. And 
shouldst thou not believe me ; there are decrees in existence 
in which the public records praise me, and make me exempt 
from impost. Although this boasting is not befitting the un- 

25 Loosen the ropes.'] — Ver. 73. The ' rudentes ' were the ropes used 
to move or fix the masts, sails, or yards of a vessel. 

26 Trosmis.'] — Ver. 79. This was a city of Mysia, which the Scythians 
had taken from the Romans. 

2 ' Many hundred yards.'] — Ver. 86. ' Jugera multa ;' literally, * many 
jugera.' The 'jugerum' of the Romans was, as a measure of superficies, 
240 feet in length, and 120 in breadth, It was the common measure of 
road among the Romans. Pliny renders the Greek word 7r\e9eov, by 
' jugerum/ in which case it would be a measure of length of 100 Grecian, 
or 104 Roman, feet. In the present instance, the word seems to imply a 
measure of length. 



460 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 

fortunate, the neighbouring towns grant me the same privi- 
leges. 

My piety, too, is not unknown ; this stranger land sees a 
shrine of Csesar existing in my house. Together with him, stand 
his affectionate son, and his wife as his priestess ; 28 Deities not 
less than him who has lately been consecrated a God. And that 
no part of the family may be wanting, each of his grandsons 
stands there, the one, next to the side of his grandmother, the 
other, to that of his father. As oft as the day arises from the 
Eastern quarter, so often do I offer suppliant words to these, 
together with frankincense. The whole of the Pontic land, 
attesting my dutifulness, shouldst thou enquire, will say that I 
do not invent this. The Pontic land knows that I celebrate the 
birth-day of the Divinity with sports as worthy as I can, in 
this country. And not less is my duty, in this respect, known 
to strangers, if at any time the extensive Propontis has sent any 
persons to these seas. Thy brother also, under whose govern- 
ment were the districts of Pontus on the left, may, perhaps, 
have heard of these things. My. fortune is not equal to my 
heart, and in such duties, though poor, I willingly expend my 
little property. Nor do I, far removed from the City, present 
these things to your eyes ; but I am content with silent acts 
of piety. And yet these things will some day reach the ears 
of Csesar ; there is nothing which passes throughout the 
whole world concealed from him. Doubtless thou knowest of 
this, and beholdest it, Csesar, summoned to the Gods above ! 
since now the earth is exposed to thy eyes. Placed among 
the stars fixed in the arch of the sky, thou nearest my prayers, 
which I utter with anxious lips. Perhaps, too, those verses 
may arrive thither, which I have sent, about thee, newly- 
made an inhabitant of heaven. I divine that, by means of 
these, thy Divinity will be appeased ; and, not undeservedly, 
dost thou bear the benign name of Father. 

28 His wife as his priestess.] — Ver. 107. His meaning is, that Livia 
venerates the memory of her husband Augustus in no less degree than the 
priest venerates the Deity of whom he is the minister. 



b. x.] or oyid. 461 



ELEGY X.— TO PEDO ALBINO VANUS. 29 

He writes to his friend Pedo Albinovanus, the poet, and refers 'to the 
length of time he has lived among the savage Getse ; comparing his 
troubles with those of Ulysses, he says that his own are the greater. 
He entreats him to preserve his attachment to him in his adversity ; 
and to imitate the example of Theseus, whose exploits he had made the 
theme of his verse. 

The sixth summer is being passed by me, here, on the Cimme- 
rian shore, to be spent among the Getse, wrapped in skins, 
And dost thou, my dearest Albinovanus, compare flint stones, 
or iron, to my hardships 1 The drop hollows out the stone ; 
the ring is worn by use, and the curving ploughshare is rubbed 
away by the pressure of the earth. Will, then, devouring 
Time consume everything except me ? Even death, overcome 
by my hardships, is tardy in its approach. Ulysses is an in- 
stance of a mind extremely patient ; he who was tost on the 
fitful ocean during ten years ; but yet he did not endure the 
whole of that term, full of the anxieties of his destiny ; there 
were frequently pauses of quietude. Was it a hard thing for 
him, during six years, to embrace the beauteous Calypso, and 
to share the bed of a Goddess of the Sea? The son of Hip- 
potas 30 entertained him ; he who gave him the winds as his gift, 
that a serviceable breeze might bend his impelled sails. It was 
no hardship to listen to the Sire?is, damsels that sang so well, and 
the lotus was not bitter to him that tasted it. I would buy the 
potions that cause forgetfulness of one's country, at the price 
of half my life, were they but saleable ; nor couldst thou ever 
compare the city of the Lsestrygon, to the nations which the 
Danube passes with its winding stream. The Cyclop, too, will 
not surpass Phyaces 31 in cruelty ; how large a part of my dread 
is he wont to form ! Although Scylla is lurking, with fierce 
monsters, downv/ard from her amputated groin ; the ships of 

29 Pedo Albinovanus.] — He was an heroic poet of Rome, and is now 
generally supposed to have been the author of the Consolation to Livia 
Augusta, on the death of her son Drusus ; a poem which was long attributed 
to Ovid. 

30 The son of Hippoias.'] — Ver. 15. JMus was the son of Hippotas. 
He hospitably entertained Ulysses, and gave him favourable winds for his 
return to his own country. 

31 Phyaces."] — Ver. 23. This person appears to have been a savage chief 
of some of the neighbouring Scythian tribes* 



462 THE POXTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 

the Heniochi 32 do more injury to mariners ; and thou canst not 
compare Charybdis with the hostile Achsei, although she 
thrice vomits forth the brine that she has thrice sucked up. 
Although these roam more at large, on the coasts on the right- 
hand side of the Euxine Sea, still they do not allow this side to 
be free from anxiety. Here are fields without trees, here are 
arrows dipped in venom, here the winter makes the sea pass- 
able even on foot ; so that the traveller, despising the ship, 
may go with dry feet, where the oar had lately made a path by 
impelling the waves . Those who come from your parts, say 
that you hardly believe these things. How wretched is he, who 
endures things more dreadful than can be believed ! Yet, do 
believe me, and I will not allow thee to remain ignorant of the 
reasons why the cold winter hardens the Sarmatian Sea. The 
Constellation that bears the form of a wain, and that brings 
extreme cold, is near to us. In these parts Boreas arises ; 
he is familiar with these coasts, and he derives his strength 
from a neighbouring region ; but the South Wind, which 
breathes warmly from the opposite pole, is far away, and 
comes but seldom and faint. Besides, here mingle the rivers 
with the inclosed Euxine Sea, and' the ocean loses its power, 
from the multitude of streams. Hither do the Lycus, 33 the 
Sagaris, the Penius, the Hypanis, and the Crates flow onwards 
to the sea, and the Halys, whirling with many a pool ; and 
the rapid Parthenius, and the Cynapes, carrying along rocks, 
rolls on, and the Tyras, that is more sluggish than no other 
river. And thou, Thermodon, well known to the female 
squadrons, 34 and thou too, Phasis, once sought by the men of 
Greece. The most pellucid JDryaspes, too, with the stream of 
the Borysthenes, and the Melanthus silently pacing on his 
quiet way ; the rivei\ too, which separates the two lands, Asia 

32 The Heniochi.'] — Ver. 26. These were, a race of pirates, who lived 
in the neighbourhood of Colchis, and caused great terror by their devasta- 
tions. The Achseans were a people of Scythia, of a similar rapacious and 
lawless character. 

33 The Lyons.] — Ver. 4.7. This, and the other rivers here mentioned, 
are streams which, situate in the north of Turkey, the south of Russia, 
or in Asia Minor, flow into the sea of Marmora, or the Black Sea. 

34 The female squadrons.] — Ver. 51. The Amazons are here alluded 
to. They were a warlike race of females, who first dwelt in Sarmatia, 
near the river Tanais, but afterwards in Cappadocia, near the river Ther- 
modon. 



E. x] OF OYID. 463 

and the sister of Cadmus, 35 and makes his path between them 
both ; and innumerable others, the greatest among all 
which, the Danube, denies that he yields the palm to thee, O 
Nilus. Such an abundance of streams, taints the waters 
which they increase ; and permit not the sea to retain its 
strength of current. Moreover, just like a standing pool, and 
a sluggish swamp, it is of colour hardly azure, and its native 
hue is modified. Fresh water swims on the surface of the 
deep, and is lighter than the sea water ; which derives its 
peculiar weight from the admixture of salt. 

Should any one inquire why these things are told to Pedo> 
and what is the use of mentioning them in measured numbers ; 
I will tell them, I have worn away the time and I have be- 
guiled my cares ; this advantage has the present hour brought 
to me. While I have been writing these things, I was far re- 
moved from my usual sorrows ; and I was not sensible that I 
was in the midst of the Getse. But thou, I doubt not, when in 
thy verse thou art praising Theseus, 36 dost defend the reputa- 
tion of thy subject, and thou dost imitate the hero of whom 
thou art singing. He certainly forbids friendship to be the 
waiter upon times of prosperity. Although he is an hero., 
mighty in his exploits, and is celebrated by thee, in language 
in which he ought to be sung, yet in him there is something 
worthy to be imitated by us, and any one can be a Theseus 
in attachment. Foes have not to be subdued by thee, with 
the sword and with the club, by reason of whom the Isthmus 
of Corinth 11 was hardly passable by any one ; but affection 
must be shewn, not a difficult matter to him who is willing. 
What labour is it not to have violated sincere attachment. 
Thou must not suppose that these things have been said with 
complaining tongue to thee, who remainest throughout con- 
stant to thy friend. 

3o The sister of Cadmus.'] — Ver. 55. Europa, who gave name to Europe, 
which is here signified. 

33 Art praising Theseus.'] — Ver. 71. Pedo Albinovanus wrote a poem, 
of which Theseus was the hero. 

37 The Isthmus of Corinth.] — Ver. 80. This spot was rendered almost 
impassable by the atrocities perpetrated by Sinnis, or Scyron, a robber of 
that vicinity. Theseus slew him, and hung Mm on a pine tree, 



464 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 



EPISTLE XL— TO GALLIO. 

Having been informed by Gallio of the death of his wife, he apologizes 
for not having before named her in his writings, in return for the grief 
which he manifested on his banishment from Rome. He states his own 
sorrow on hearing of the death of the wife of Gallio, but he says that 
he will not presume to offer him consolation, as he is already acquainted 
with all the precepts of the learned on the subject of resignation, and 
he trusts, that by this time, his grief has subsided. He also thinks it 
possible that, by the time his letter arrives, Gallio may have married again* 

Gallio ! the fault will be hardly excusable by me, that thou 
hast not received praise in my verse ; for thou, too, (as I re- 
member), with thy tears didst foment my wounds, that were 
made by the celestial spear ; and, would that, afflicted by the 
loss of thy friend thus snatched away, thou hadst felt no 
reason besides, why thou shouldst grieve ! It pleased not thus 
the Gods, who, in their cruelty did not think it wrong to 
deprive thee of thy chaste wife. For a letter lately came to me, 
the messenger of woe, and thy loss was read of by me with 
tears. But I would not dare, in my folly, to console so w r ise a 
man, and repeat to thee the w r ell-known sayings of the learned ; 
I suppose, too, that thy grief has terminated by this, through 
the very length of time, if not on principle. While thy letter 
was arriving, while mine, returning, is passing over so many 
seas and lands, a whole year passes away. To offer consola- 
tion, is the duty of a certain space of time ; so long as grief is 
in full career, and while the afflicted seeks relief ; but, when 
length of time has lulled the wounds of the mind, he w r ho un- 
seasonably foments them, renews them, 

Besides, (and may this omen be a true one for thee !) thou 
mayst by this time be happy in a new marriage. 



EPISTLE XIL— TO TUTICANUS. 

He first tells Tuticanus the reason why he has not hitherto mentioned his 
name in his writings. He then refers to the intimate friendship that 
has existed between them from their childhood : and he concludes, by 
entreating him to use his influence with Tiberius Caesar in his favour. 

It is caused by the nature of thy name, 38 that thou art not 

33 The nature of thy name.'] — Ver. 2. He says that the quantities of the 
feet in the name of Tuticanus had rendered it impossible for him, with due 
regard to poetical rules, to name him either in Hexameter or Pentameter 
lines. 



e. xii.] OF OVID. 465 

named, my friend, in my books. But I would deem no 
one worthy of honour sooner than that ; if only my verses 
are any honour. The law of poetical measure, and the 
nature of the name, impede this act of duty ; and there is no 
way for thee to take a place in my numbers. For I am 
ashamed so to distribute thy name into two lines, 39 that the 
first one may end, and the second, begin with it. I should 
be ashamed, too, if, in the part of the word, where a stress 
is laid on the syllable, I should pronounce thy name short, 
and call thee Tuticanus? and thou canst not be introduced 
in a Hue under the form of Tuticanus ; so that the first 
syllable be made short out of a long one. Or, suppose the 
syllable is made long, which is now pronounced short ; and 
the second syllable is long with an extended pause. If, by 
these blemishes I should dare to spoil thy name, I should 
be laughed at, and I should deservedly be denied to be the 
possessor of judgment. This was the cause of my deferring 
this tribute, which my resources shall now pay with the ad- 
dition of interest. And under an indication of some sort, 
I will celebrate thee ; I will send thee my verses, oh thou 
that wast known when almost a boy to me when almost 
a boy as well; and that hast been beloved by me not less 
than as a brother by a brother through a series of years, 
as long as we both of us have lived. Thou wast my kind 
adviser, thou wast my guardian and my companion, while 
I guided the reins but newly assumed with inexperienced 
hand. Often, under thy criticism, have I corrected my 
works ; often, by my recommendation, was an alteration 
made by thee ; when the Pierian maid instructed thee to write 
the Phseacian poem, 40 worthy of even Meeonian paper. This 
even course, this unison, commenced in early youth, continued 

59 To distribute thy name into two lines. ~\ — Ver, 7. He means to say 
that the only way in which his name can possibly he introduced is by using 
the first two syllables for the final spondee of the Hexetmeter, and com- 
mencing the Pentameter with the two remaining syllables ; but that he 
would be ashamed to adopt that expedient ; thereby implying the limp- 
ing and mutilated nature of the hues, which would infallibly result from 
such a step. 

40 P/ueacianpoem.]—Yer. 27. This appears to have been a poem which 
Tuticanus had composed either in praise of Aicinoiis, the king of the 
Phaeacians, or descriptive of the wanderings of Ulysses, as recounted by him 
to Aicinoiis, by whom he was hospitably entertained. He compliments 
Tuticanus on his work, in saying that it was worthy of the paper of Homer, 

H H 



466 THE POXTIC EPISTLES [b. IV. 

unimpaired until our hair was grey. And if these things 
move thee not, I could believe that thy breast is of hard iron, 
or enclosed in infrangible adamant. 

But, first, may war and frosts, which two evils Pontus so 
hateful to me possesses, cease from off this land, and may 
Boreas become warm, and the South wind intensely cold, and 
may my lot become more endurable ; before thy feelings are 
hardened against thy ruined companion. May this burden not 
be added to my woes ; and it is not added. Only do thou, by 
the Gods of heaven, of whom he is the most unwavering, under 
whose rule thy honours have continually increased, effect by 
defending me, an exile, with constant attachment, that the de- 
sired breeze desert not my bark. Dost thou ask, what I would 
recommend ? May I die, if I am not almost unable to say ; if 
only, the person who is dead can die again. I neither know 
what to do, nor what to wish, or not to wish ; and my own in- 
terests are not well ascertained by me. Believe me, prudence 
is the first thing to forsake the distressed, and common sense 
and judgment take flight together with prosperity. Do thou 
thyself, I pray, consider in what respect I can be assisted, and 
through what channel thou canst make a passage to the attain- 
ment of my desires. 



EPISTLE XIII.— TO CARUS. 

He tells Cams, the Prseceptor of the Csesars, that he will at once perceive, 
from the colour of the paper and the structure of the verse, from whom 
this letter comes. He informs him that he has composed, in the Getic 
tongue, a letter in praise of Augustus, Livia, and her children. He 
entreats him, by their ancient friendship, as he is now in the sixth year 
of his exile, to procure his removal to some other place. 

thou, not to be numbered among my wavering acquaint- 
ances, hail thou who art called Carus, a thing which thou 
really art. 41 The colour which this letter bears, 42 and the com- 
position of my verse, can be at once a sign to thee from what 
quarter thou receivest this salutation ; not that my composition 

41 A thing which thou really ar*.]— Ver. 2. ' Cams' signifies 'dear.' 
It being the name of his correspondent, he tells him that he is not only 
Carus in name, but in realitv. 

42 The colour which this 'letter bears.]— Yer. 3. The fact of it being 
worn and thumbed, showing that it has come from a distance. 



E. xiii.] OF OYID. 467 

is wonderful, but neither is it, assuredly, common-place ; but, 
of whatever nature it is, it is evident that it is mine. Thou, 
too, thyself, though thou shouldst tear oiF the superscription 
from the top of the paper, 43 I still seem able to pronounce 
what is thy composition. Placed among ever so many works, 
thou art recognized, and thou wilt be found, through indica- 
tions which have been remarked. 

The strength which we know to be worthy of Hercules, and 
equal to the might of him. of whom 44 thou art singing, betrays 
its author ; my Muse, too, betrayed by her peculiar qualities, 
may perhaps be remarkable through her own blemishes. As 
much did his ugly shape hinder Thersites from lying concealed, 
as Nireus 45 was conspicuous for his beauteous one ; and it will 
not be right for thee to be surprised, if the verses are faulty, 
which I, now become almost a Getic poet, compose. 

Ah! I am ashamed to own it; I have composed a work in 
the Getic language, and barbarian words have been arranged 
into my measures. I have given satisfaction, too ; congratulate 
me ! I have begun to have the reputation of a poet among the 
savage Getae. Dost thou enquire what was my subject ? I have 
sung the praises of Caesar. My new attempt was aided by the 
inspiration of the Divinity ; for I have shewn that the body of 
our father Augustus was mortal ; that his spirit has departed to 
the sethereal abodes ; that he who, by compulsion, 46 has assumed 
the reins of empire, often refused by him, is equal to his father ; 
that thou, Livia, art the Vesta of chaste matrons ; and that it 
is a matter of doubt whether thou art more worthy of thy son, 
or of thy husband ; that there are two youths, the firm sup- 
ports of their father, who have given sure indications of their 

43 The top of the paper. ~] — Ver. 7. ' Frons charts' will, perhaps, either 
mean the top of the paper in a book composed of a scroll, or the first page 
in one composed of different leaves, like our books ; the ' titulus' would be 
the superscription and address, stating by whom written, and to whom sent. 

44 Him of whom.'] — Ver. 12. Hercules, who was the hero of his poem. 
40 Nireus.] — Ver. 16. He was the son of Charops and Aglaia, and a 

native of the island of Syme. Homer says that he was the most beauteous 
of men. 

46 By compulsion.'] — Ver. 27. This refers to the pretended difficulty 
which Tiberius made, on being requested by the Senate to assume the reins 
of government ; an offer which, for some time, to suit his purposes, he 
pretended to refuse to accept. 

H H 2 



468 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 

disposition. When I read through these verses, written not 
in the song of my country, and the last page came to my 
hands, all moved both their heads and their full quivers, and 
there was a prolonged applause in the mouths of the Getse ; 
and one said, " Since thou writest these things about Caesar, 
thou oughtst to be restored by the command of Csesar." 

He, indeed, said so ; but now, Cams, the sixth winter beholds 
me removed under the snowy pole. 

My verses avail me not; once did my verses injure me, and 
they were the first cause of so wretched a banishment ; but do 
thou, by the common ties of our sacred pursuits, by the name 
of friendship not despised by thee, aid me; then may Ger- 
manicus afford a subject-matter for the scope of thy genius, the 
foe being captive in Latian chains. May the youths prosper, 
the common anxiety of the Gods, whom, it is thy great honour 
to have had entrusted to thee to educate ; do thou give all the 
influence that thou canst to my preservation, which will not be 
achieved, except by a change of my place of exile. 



EPISTLE XIV.— TO TUTICANUS. 

He writes to Tuticanus, whom he had before addressed, and says that he 
would prefer any place of exile to Tomi. He says, that the people of 
that place ought not to be angry at his censures, as they are not directed 
against them, but the place only. On the contrary, he admits that he has 
invariably received the greatest kindness from them. 

These lines are sent to thee, whom I lately complained of as 
not having a name suited to my measure. 

In them, thou wilt find nothing to give thee pleasure, ex- 
cept that I am still pretty well ; even health is hateful to me, 
and my most earnest wish is, forsooth, to depart some way or 
other from these regions. I have no anxiety but to leave 
this land ; for any one will be more pleasing than this which I 
behold. Send my sails into the midst of the Syrtes, into the 
midst of Charybdis, so that I may depart from my present lo- 
cality. Styx, even, if there is such a thing, will be a good 
exchange for the Danube ; and if there is anything besides 
that the world contains lower than Styx. 

The tilled field less dreads weeds, the swallow less [dreads 
the winter, than Naso does the places adjacent to the Getse, 



e. xiv.] • OF OYID. 469 

the worshippers of Mars. The people of Tomi are angry with 
me, on account of such expressions, and the public displeasure 
has been excited by my lines. Shall I, then, never cease to 
receive injury through my verses, and shall I be everlastingly 
punished by an imprudent disposition? Why do I delay 
cutting off my fingers, that I may not write ? and why, in my 
madness, do I still adhere to the weapons which have been my 
ruin ? Again I turn to the wonted rocks, and to those waves, 
in which my shipwrecked bark was dashed. But, I have done 
nothing ; it is no fault of mine, ye people of Tomi, whom I 
esteem, although I utterly hate your place. 

Let any one examine the records of my labours ; my letters 
have made no complaints about you. I complain of the cold, 
and of incursions to be dreaded on every side, and that the 
fortifications are shaken by the enemy. I have uttered charges, 
most truthful, against the locality, not against the people : 
even you yourselves often condemn your own soil. 

The Muse of Hesiod, the old man that was devoted to agri- 
culture, dared to show us why his own Ascra should always be 
shunned. But he who wrote was born in that land ; and yet 
Ascra was not exasperated against her own poet. Who loved 
his country better than the sagacious Ulysses ? And yet, by 
his showing, the ruggedness of the place has become known. 
Scepsius 47 did not attack places, but manners, in his bitter 
remarks, and Rome herself was accused. And yet she bore 
these false charges with equanimity, and an abusive tongue 
was no injury to its owner. But an unskilful interpreter excites 
the wrath of the people against me, andj calls on my lines to 
answer a fresh charge. Would that I were as fortunate, as I am 
pure in my heart. No man is yet in existence that has been 
wounded by my tongue. Besides, had I been blacker even than 
Illyrian pitch, the friendly multitude should not have been 
slandered by me. My exile, kindly entertained by you, people 
of Tomi, shows that men of such gentle manners are Greeks. 
The Peligni, my people, and Sulmo, my native place, could 
not have been more affectionate to me, in my misfortune. That 
honour was lately conferred by you on me, which you would 
scarcely grant to any one flourishing and prosperous. As yet, 

47 Scepsius.'] — Ver. 38. It is not known whether this person was a 
poet or a philosopher, who was thus allowed with impunity to attack the 
manners of the Roman people. 



470 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. IV. 

I am the only one that is exempt from impost in your country ; 
except those who have these privileges by law. My temples have 
been wreathed with a sacred garland, which the public favour 
bestowed on me, reluctant to accept it. As pleasing, therefore, 
as the land of Delos was to Latona, which alone afforded her 
a place of safety, in her wanderings ; so dear to me is Tomi ; 
which, in its hospitability, remains faithful up to the present 
moment to me banished from my country. Oh ! that the 
Gods would only grant, that it might but afford a hope of tran- 
quil peace, and that it could be further off from the freezing 
pole. 



EPISTLE XV.— TO SEXTUS POMPEIUS. 

He tells him that he is indebted to him for every thing but his life, which 
he owes to Caesar. He begs him to ask of the Emperor, whom he so 
much respects, another place of exile exposed to fewer hardships. He 
excuses himself for so often making the same request ; but he says, that 
his longing knows no bounds. 

If there is still any one in existence not unforgetful of me, or 
who enquires what I, Naso, sent afar, am doing ; let him know 
that I owe my life to the Caesars, my safety to Sextus Pom- 
peius. After the Gods above, he shall be the first in my 
esteem. For, though I should embrace all the season of my 
wretched life, no one part of it is without his kindnesses. 
These are as many in number as the crimson grains under the 
thin rind of the pomegranate, that blush in the beds of a fertile 
garden ; as the ears of standing corn that Africa, the grapes 
that the land of Tmolus, 48 the olives that Sicyon, the honey- 
comb that Hybla produces. I confess it ; you may attest it ; 
sign it, ye Quirites. There is no need for the authority of the 
laws ; I myself say so. Put me too, but a trifling matter, 
among thy patrimonial possessions ; let me be a part, how- 
ever small, of thy property. As much as Trinacria is thine, 49 

43 Tmolus.] — Ver. 9. This was a mountain of Lydia, famed among 
the ancients for the excellence of its wine and saffron. 

49 Trinacria is thine.'] — Ver. 15. It is supposed that Sicily was under 
the especial protection and guardianship of Sextus, and that he was en- 
trusted by Augustus or Tiberius with the command in Macedonia, or in 
one of its principal towns. 



e. xv.] OF OYID. 4/1 

and Macedonia, the land that was ruled over by Philip ; as 
much as thy house, that adjoins the Forum of Augustus ; as 
much as thy Campania, thy country domain, is pleasing to the 
eyes of its owner, and the rest which thou possessest, Sextus, 
either as left to thee or bought ; so much am I thy property ; 
by reason of which melancholy gift thou canst not say that 
thou possessest nothing in Pontus. And, oh ! that thou didst 
not, and that a more genial soil were granted me ; and, that 
thou wouldst hold thy property on a preferable spot ! And 
since it rests with the Gods, attempt to soothe the Divinities, 
whom thou worshippest with unceasing veneration : for, it is 
hard to discover, whether thou art more a proof of my mistake, 
or its consolation. And I do not entreat thee in uncertainty : 
but often, the speed of the flowing water, as we go along with 
the stream, is increased by rowing. I am ashamed, and I dread 
to be always making the same entreaties, lest a justified tedium 
should take possession of thy feelings. But what shall I do ? 
Desire is a thing that knows no bounds. Pardon, kind friend, 
my failing. Often, when I wish to write something else, I 
glide into that subject : my very letters of themselves ask for 
another place of exile. 

But whether thy favour is to have effect, or whether cruel 
Destiny bids me die under the freezing pole ; I shall ever recall 
to mind thy unforgotten services ; and my country shall hear 
that I am thine. Each other country besides, that is situate 
under this sky, shall hear of it, if only my song travels beyon d 
the savage Getse ; and shall know that thou wast the cause and 
the guardian of my safety, and that I am thine, less only the 
coin and the balance. 49 * 

EPISTLE XVI.— TO HIS ENEMY. 

He tells his calumniator, that he ought not to revile him, as he ought now 
to he looked upon as dead ; and that envy attacks only the living, hut 
does not molest the dead : he then enumerates a multitude of poets, 
whom he may assail with as much justice as himself. 

Thou envious man, why dost thou pull to pieces the verses of 
Naso, who is no more ? Death is not wont to injure genius. 
Greater fame, too, arises when we are no more ; and I had 
reputation even when I was numbered with the living. When 

49 * And the balance.] — Ver. 42. These were formally used on the sale 
of slaves. 



4/2 THE PONTIC EPISTLES [b. iv. 

Marsus 50 was existing, and Rabirius, 51 with bis nervous lan- 
guage, and Macer, the bard of Ilium, and Pedo the poet of the 
stars, and Cams, who, by his Hercules, would have offended 
Juno, had he not now been the son-in-law of Juno ; and 
Severus, 52 who gave a regal poem to Latium, and either 
Priscus, 53 with their elegant poems on Numa. And thou, Mon- 
tanus, 54 who excellest either in unequal or equal measures, 
and who hast a celebrity in two kinds of verse. Sabinus, too, 
who bade 55 Ulysses, the wanderer for ten years over the raging 
seas, write an answer to Penelope ; and who left his Trsezene 
and his work upon the Days unfinished, by reason of his pre- 
mature death. Largus, 56 too, who is called by the epithet be- 
longing to his genius, he who brought the Phrygian sage to 
the Gallic plains. Camberinus as well, who sings of Troy sub- 
dued by Hercules ; the Etrurian 57 also, who derives his reputa- 

50 Marsus.'] — Ver. 5. Domitius Marsus was a Roman poet, the con- 
temporary of Ovid and Horace. Only five lines of his works are extant ; 
four of these form part of an elegy on the death of Tibullus. 

51 Rabirius.] — Ver. 5. Cams Rabirius was a Roman Epic poet, whose 
writings were full of spirit and energy, on which account Ovid calls him 
' magni oris.' His works have perished. 

52 Severus.] — Ver. 9. Cassius Severus was a' Roman poet of consider- 
able meiit, who wrote several tragedies, to which reference is here made. 
He also wrote some epigrams and elegies. His works have not come down 
to our time. 

53 Either Priscus.] — Ver. 10. These were two Roman poets of the 
name of Priscus ; each of whom wrote a poem, of which Numa Pompilius 
was the hero. 

54 Montanus.] — Ver. 11. Julius Montanus was a Roman poet, who 
was patronized by the Emperor Tiberius. He composed both in Heroic 
and in Elegiac measure, to which Ovid here refers, as the unequal and 
equal measures. 

55 Who bade.] — Ver. 13. Aulus Sabinus, the Roman poet, composed an 
Epistle, supposed to be written by Ulysses, in answer to that of Penelope, 
which is the first Epistle in Ovid's Heroides ; to this fact reference is here 
made. It is not known whether the work mentioned here, under the name 
of Traezene, refers to a poem composed by him in praise of some female of 
that name, or to some tragedy or didactic work relative to Traezene, in 
Argolis, of which place Pittheus, the grandfather of Theseus, was king. 

56 Largus.] — Ver. 17. This poet, who is here said to have been so 
called from his fruitful genius, composed a poem descriptive of the settle- 
ment of Antenor the Trojan at Patavium, now Padua, in the north of 
Italy; which was formerly Cisalpine Gaul. 

57 The Etrurian.] — Ver. 20. It is not known to whom reference is 
here made ; or whether the poet gained his fame by singing the praises of 
his mistress Phillis, or those of Phillis the daughter of Lycurgus, king of 



e. xv i. ] OF OYID. 473 

tion from his Phyllis. The poet, too, 38 of the sail-covered sea, 
for whom you might suppose that the azure Deities had com- 
posed his verses. He, too, who sang the Libyan armies and 
the Roman battles ; and Marcus, skilled in every kind of com- 
position ; and the Trinacrian, author of his song on Perseus, 
and Lupus, 59 the author of the return home of the descendant 
of Tantalus, and of the daughter of Tyndarus. Tuiicanus, too, 
who translated the Mseonian song ofAlcinoils t he Phoenician, and 
together with him, thou too, Rufus, the performer- on the Pin- 
daric lyre. The Muse, too, that is supported on the tragic bus- 
kins of Turranius ; and thy Muse, Melissus, 60 sportive with the 
sock of comedy. While Varus 61 and Gracchus 62 were describing 
the fierce boastings of their Tyrants, Proculus was following 
the wanton path of Callimachus. There was Tityrus, 63 too, 
who was feeding his sheep on his paternal pastures, and Gra- 
tius e4 was giving proper weapons to the hunter. Fontanus 
sang of the Naiads, beloved by the Satyrs, and Capella in- 
cluded his words in unequal measures. And though there were 
others, the names of all of whom 'twould take a long time to 

Thrace, who succeeded her father in that kingdom. Some would read 
'Fuscus,' instead of ' Tuscus.' Of Camerinus, nothing whatever is known. 

08 The poet, too.] — Ver. 21. He alludes to Publius Terentius Varro 
Attacinus, a Roman satirical poet. He translated the Argonautics of Apol- 
lonius Rhodius into Latin verse, to which reference is here made. 

09 Lupus. ,] — Ver. 26. Nothing is known of this poet, or of either of 
the three that are referred to immediately before him. 

60 Melissus.] — Ver. 30. Caius Cilnius Melissus was the freedman of 
Maecenas, and was the author of several comedies and mimes, and of a 
book of jests. Of Rufus and Turranius, no particulars are known. 

61 Varus.] — Ver. 31. Quintilius Varius, or Varus, was a native of 
Cremona, and was of Equestrian rank. He is mentioned by Horace and 
Virgil, and was one of the persons to whom the Emperor Augustus en- 
trusted the revisal of the iEneid, prior to its publication. 

62 Gracchus.] — Ver. 31. He was a Roman poet, who wrote a tragedy 
on the subject of Thyestes, the same which Varus had chosen. Ovid 
alludes to the taunts which the poets put into the mouth of Thyestes 
against Atreus. 

63 Tityrus.]— Ver. 33. Under this name he alludes to Virgil; who 
introduces Tityrus as one of the characters in his first Eclogue. It is gene- 
rally supposed that the poet intended, under that character, to depict his 
own fortunes, and the favour he had experienced at the hands of Augustus. 
Of Proculus, nothing is known. 

64 Gratius.] — Ver. 34. Gratius was a Roman poet, whose poem on 
hunting, called ' Cynsegeticon,' has come down to our time. 



4/4 THE PONTIC EPISTLES OF OVID, [b. IV. 

recount, whose verses the public possesses ; and there were 
other young men, whom I have no right to mention by name, 
as their labours are as yet unpublished ; still I could not ven- 
ture, Cotta, 65 to pass thee in silence in the throng. 

Thou light of the Pierian maids, thou guardian of the bar ; 
to whom the highest nobility of the blood on both sides has 
given the Cottse as the maternal, the Messalse as the paternal 
ancestors. If I may be allowed to say so, my Muse was one 
of illustrious name, and was one that was read even amid 
authors so great. Therefore, Envy, cease to defame one re- 
moved from his country, and do not, inhuman man, scatter my 
ashes. I have lost everything. Life alone is left, that it may 
afford matter for my woes and the power of feeling them. 
Of what use is it to plunge the sword into the lifeless limbs ? 
By this time, a fresh wound can find no place unhurt in me for 
its infliction. 

65 Cotta. ,] — Ver. 41. To this poet, the second Epistle in the thircf 
Book of the Pontic Epistles is addressed. Of Fontanus, and Capella here 
referred to, no further information has come down to us. 



E1NT) OF THE PONTIC EPISTLES. 



THE ' 

INVECTIVE AGAINST THE IBIS. 



It is not known against whom this shocking poem, which combines a 
chapter of horrors with a vocabulary of abuse, was written. It is, how- 
ever, generally supposed that Caius Julius Hyginus, a grammarian of 
Alexandria, and the freedman of Augustus, an author who has left a 
work on the ancient Mythology, is the person alluded to. Whoever it 
may have been, it appears that he had been a friend of Ovid, and that, 
in his banishment, he had calumniated both the Poet and his wife, and 
had tried to enrich himself by the confiscation of the property of the exile. 
The Poet makes allusion to these several facts ; and says, that he will 
follow the example of Callimachus, the Greek poet, who attacked Apol- 
lonius Rhodius, another poet, under the fictitious title of Ibis : which 
was the name of a bird of Egypt, of filthy habits, supposed to live 
upon scorpions and venomous serpents. The country of the person at- 
tacked, or, at least, its vicinity, seems to be denoted by his allusion to 
Lybia, as being the country of his enemy, and the adaptation of the 
Ibis, as the object of censure ; although Suetonius says, that Hyginus 
was really a Spaniard, though thought by some to have been a native of 
Alexandria. Some say, that Corvinus, others that Cornificius, was 
the name of the unfortunate object of Ovid's vituperation. The former, 
however, is the more general belief among the learned.* 

Up to this time, twice five lustra having now been passed by 
me, every verse of my Muse has been inoffensive, and not a 
single letter of Naso's exists, out of so many thousands that 
have been written, that can be read as injurious. My books, 
too, have hurt no one but myself ; when the life of the author 
was lost through his Art of Love. One man (and that very 
circumstance is a great reproach) does not permit my credit 
for inoffensiveness to be lasting. Whoever he is (for I will 
still, in some measure, be silent on his name) he forces my 

* As a full reference to each of the allusions to be found in this poem 
would suffice to fill a small volume, and as a considerable proportion of 
them have been already explained in the Notes to the former part of this 
work, some of the more obscure passages only will be selected for elucida- 
tion in the notes. 



476 THE INYECTITE 

unused hands to take up weapons. He does not allow me, 
removed afar to the cold rising of the North wind, to He con- 
cealed in my place of exile. In his cruelty, he torments the 
wounds that seek for rest, and he bandies my name about the 
whole of the Forum. Nor does he allow her, who is bound to 
me by the lasting tie of marriage, to lament the death of her 
wretched husband. While I am clinging to the shattered 
remains of my vessel, he strives to seize the planks of my 
shipwreck. He, too, who ought to extinguish the sudden 
conflagration, like a plunderer, snatches his booty from the 
midst of the fire. He strives that subsistence may be want- 
ing to my exiled old age ; alas ! how much more worthy 
was he himself of my misfortunes ! The Gods deemed other- 
wise ; of whom he is by far the greatest to me, who willed 
not my wanderings to be destitute. To him, then, whenever 
I shall be allowed, I shall always return deserved thanks for a 
disposition so merciful. Pontus shall hear of these things ; 
perhaps the same Divinity may cause a nearer country to 
testify them for me. But I will be deservedly an enemy to 
thee, however wretched, who hast, cruel man, trod upon me 
when lying prostrate. Water shall sooner cease to be the an- 
tagonist of fire, and the light of the Sun shall be joined with 
the Moon ; the same portion of the heavens shall send forth 
the West winds and those of the East ; and the warm South 
wind shall blow from the cold North pole ; a fresh-born con- 
cord, too, shall arise between the smoke of the ashes of Eteo- 
cles and Polynices, the brothers, which the old enmity sepa- 
rated even on the lighted funeral pile ; Spring, too, shall mingle 
with Autumn, and Summer with Midwinter ; and the West 
and the East shall be the same spot, before, having laid aside 
the arms which I have assumed, there shall be the friendship, 
thou wretch, between me and thee which thou hast broken 
by thy crimes : before this resentment can ever cease in length 
of time, or time and season can moderate my hatred. There 
will be that peace between us, so long as my life shall last, 
which there is wont to be between the wolves and the weak 
sheep. I, indeed, will commence the first warfare in the verse 
with which I have begun, although wars are not wont to be 
waged in this measure. And, as the lance of the light-armed 
soldier, not yet heated for the combat, is first aimed at the 
ground strewed with the yellow sand ; so will I not at first 



AGAINST THE IBIS. 477 

aim at thee with the sharp steel ; nor shall my spear at once 
strike at thy hated head, neither will I mention thy name, or 
thy actions in this book ; and I will suffer thee, for a little 
time, to conceal who thou art. Afterwards, shouldst thou per- 
sist, the bold Iambic measure shall provide me with weapons 
against thee, steeped in the blood of Lycambes. 1 

At present, I curse thee and thine, in the same manner in 
which Callimachus, the son of Battus, curses his enemy, the 
Ibis. And as he does, I will involve my lines in dark fables, 
although I am not accustomed to practise this kind of com- 
position. Emulating his obscurities in his Ibis, I shall be 
pronounced forgetful of my taste and of my skill. And as I 
do not disclose to inquirers, for the present who thou art, do 
thou as well, in the meantime take the name of Ibis. As my 
lines will contain some obscurity, so be the whole tenor of 
thy life overcast. I will cause some one to read these lines 
to thee on thy birth-day, and on the Calends of Janus, with no 
deceiving lips. 

Ye Gods of the sea and of the land, and ye who, together 
with Jove, possess realms still better than these between the 
opposite poles, I pray all of you to turn hither your attention, 
and to allow due weight to attend my wishes. And do thou, 
Earth, and thou Ocean with thy waves, and thou iEther on 
high, receive my prayers ; ye stars too, and thou form of the 
Sun, surrounded with rays ; thou Moon too, who never shinest 
with the same aspect with which thou didst the day before ; 
thou Night too, awful in the appearance of thy shades : and 
ye Destinies as well, who spin your appointed task with 
three-fold fingers ; and thou, Lethe, river of the water that 
sanctions no false oath, that rollest through the vallies of hell 
with terrific roar ; and you Furies, who they say, are seated be- 
fore the dark doors of the dungeon, with your locks wreathed 
with twisted vipers ; and you, too, the commonalty of the Di- 
vinities, ye Fauns, and Satyrs, and Lares, and Streams, and 
Nymphs, and thou race of Demigods. And lastly, all ye Gods 
both old and young, trom ancient Chaos down to our time, assist, 
while imprecatory verses are being repeated against this per- 

1 The blood of Lycambes.'] — Ver. 54. Lycambes having promised 
his daughter, Neobule, to the poet Archilochus, broke his word; on which 
the poet inveighed so bitterly in his verse against the father and the 
daughter that they both hanged themselves. 



4/8 THE INVECTIVE 

fidious head, and anger and resentment are performing their 
part ; favour my desires all of you, each in his order, and let 
no fraction of my wishes be unrealized. Let the things that I 
pray for come to pass, that he may suppose that they were 
not my sayings, but the words of the son-in-law of Pasiphae. 2 
May he suffer, too, those punishments, which I shall omit ; 
may he be wretched to an extent beyond my imagination. 
And let not my prayers that execrate a fictitious name, prevail 
the less for that reason, or influence in a less degree the great 
Gods. 

I accurse him, whom my mind understands us the Ibis ; 
who knows that by his crimes he has deserved this execration. 
I am guilty of no delay ; as the priest, I will go through the 
prayers resolved on by me. Whoever ye be, that are present 
at my rites, aid me, all of you, with your words. Whoever 
ye l*e, that are present at my rites, utter words of sadness ; 
and approach the Ibis with tearful cheeks ; meet him with 
inauspicious words, and with the left foot advanced ; and let 
black vestments clothe your bodies. And thou too, Ibis, why 
dost thou hesitate to assume the mournful fillets ? the altar, as 
thou seeest, is now standing ready for thy doom. The pro- 
cession is prepared for thee ; be there no delay in the fulfil- 
ment of my vows of ill omen for thee. Victim accursed, ex- 
tend thy throat for my knives. May the earth deny thee its 
produce, the stream its waters ; may the wind, and may the 
air deny thee their breezes. May the sun be no longer bright 
for thee, nor the moon shining : may all the stars fade from 
before thy eyes. Let neither Vulcan, God of fire, nor air 
afford thee their use : let neither the land nor the sea afford 
thee a passage. An exile and in need, mayst thou wander '; 
mayst thou visit the thresholds of others ; and mayst thou 
beg a little morsel with tremulous lips. Let neither thy 
body nor thy weakened mind be free from complaining pain ; 
and may the night prove more tormenting to thee than the 
day, the day than the night. Mayst thou ever be wretched ; 
and mayst thou be pitied by none. Let both man and woman 

2 Son-in-law of Pasiphae.'] — Ver. 90. Theseus married Ariadne, the 
daughter of Pasiphae ; and afterwards, crediting the false accusation of 
Hippolytus, by his mother-in-law, Phaedra, he cursed him, and prayed 
Neptune to destroy him ; on which Hippolytus was dragged by his horses 
and killed. 



AGAINST THE IBIS. 4/9 

rejoice in thy misfortunes. Let hatred be added to thy tears, 
and when thou art enduring a multitude of woes, mayst thou 
be deemed worthy of still more. May too, which seldom 
happens, the hateful appearance of thy sorrow be deprived of 
the usual interest. May the occasion of death not be wanting 
to thee, but may its opportunity be denied thee : may life, 
forced upon thee, never meet with the death that is longed 
for. May thy breath, o?ily s£tev a prolonged struggle, forsake 
thy agonized limbs : and may it torment thee first by a 
lengthened procrastination. 

These things will come to pass. Phoebus himself, this mo- 
ment, gave me signs of the future, and a bird of bad omen 
flew on my left hand. Assuredly, I will always believe that 
what I wish will influence the Gods above ; and, perfidious 
wretch ! I shall ever be nourished by the hope of thy destruc- 
tion. That day will come to pass, which will hereafter take thee 
away from me ; that day will come to pass, which comes but 
slowly for me. And may that day, which approaches but 
tardily for me, first take away this life, often the object of thy 
attacks, before this resentment ever fade in length of years, or 
time or season modify my hatred. So long as the Thracian 
shall fight with the javelins, the Iazyges with the bow, so 
long as the Ganges shall be warm, the Danube be cold ; so 
long as the mountains shall have their oaks, the plains their 
soft pasturage, so long as the Etrurian Tiber shall have yellow 
waters, so long with thee will I wage war ; even death shall 
not put an end to my wrath, but to one ghost shall it give 
ruthless arms against another spirit. Then, too, when I shall 
have flitted into vacant air, my lifeless phantom shall still hate 
thy shade ; even then, as a ghost, I will approach, not unfor- 
getful of thy crimes, and, a skeleton form, I will attack thy 
face. Whether I shall be worn out by length of years, a thing 
I would not desire, or whether I shall depart by a death caused 
by my own hand ; whether I shall be tost in shipwreck along 
the boundless waves, and the fish from afar shall prey on 
my entrails ; whether foreign birds shall tear my limbs, or 
whether wolves shall stain their jaws with my blood; or 
whether any one shall deign to deposit me in the earth, or to 
give my lifeless body to an humble pile ; whatever I shall be, 
I shall struggle to escape from the Stygian regions, and, as my 
own avenger, I will extend my cold hands to thy features. In 



480 THE IKVECTIYE 

thy patchings thou shalt behold me ; seeming to be present in 
the silent darkness of night, I will disturb thy sleep. In fine, 
whatever thou shalt be doing, I will hover before thy face and 
thy eyes, and I will wail ; in no spot shalt thou be at rest. 
The twisted thongs shall send forth their sounds, and the 
torches, wreathed with snakes, shall ever be smoking before 
thy conscience-stricken face ; by these Furies, while yet living, 
thou shalt be tormented, and by the same when dead. Thy 
life will prove shorter than thy punishment. Obsequies and 
the tears of thy friends, shall not be thy lot ; undeplored shalt 
thou be thrown out. Thou shalt be dragged by the hand 
of the executioner, amid the shouts of the people, and the 
hook shall be fixed amid thy bones. The very flames, which 
devour everything, shall fly from thee ; the retributive earth 
shall reject thy hated carcase with disgust. With talons and 
bill shall the sluggish vulture drag thy entrails, and the greedy 
dogs shall tear asunder thy perfidious heart. Over thy body, 
too, (although thou mayst be elated at such a compliment), 
there shall be strife among the insatiate wolves. Thou wilt be 
banished to a spot far away from the Elysian Plains, and thou 
wilt inhabit the abodes which the guilty crowd occupies. 
Sisyphus is there, both rolling his stone and catching it as it 
falls ; and Ixion, who is whirled, fastened to the circumference 
of the revolving wheel ; the Da?iaides, too, grand- daughters of 
Belus, who bear on their shoulders the water that ever flows 
away, the daughters-in-law of iEgyptus, a blood-stained crowd ; 
Tantalus, the father of Pelops, catches at the apples, ever at 
hand, and the same person is ever thirsting for, yet ever 
abounding with the flowing water; Tityus, too, who at his crown 
many hundred yards 3 distant from his feet, there affords his 
entrails, as the due of the ever-present bird. There one of the 
Furies will lacerate thy sides with a whip, that thou mayst con- 
fess the number of thy crimes ; another one will give thy torn 
limbs to the dragons of Tartarus ; the third will roast thy 
smoking cheeks with fire. Thy guilty shade shall be tormented 
in a thousand ways, and iEacus shall be quite refined in thy 
tortures. To thee shall he transfer the torments of those men of 
olden time ; thou shalt be a cause of rest to the shades of the 
ancients. Sisyphus, thou shalt have one, to whom thou mayst 

3 Many hundred yards. ~\ — Ver. 183. ' Jugeribus novem,' ' nine jugera.' 
See Note to Pontic Epistles, Book ft., Epistle ix., line ft^ 



AGAINST THE IBIS. 481 

hand over thy burden that ever rolls back again ; the rapid 
wheels shall now whirl the limbs of a new victim. He it shall 
be, who shall in vain catch at the boughs and the water ; he 
shall feed the bird with his undiminished entrails. 

No other end shall terminate the punishment of this death, 
and no hour shall be the last for miseries so great. I will 
mention a few of the number ; just as though any one were 
to pick leaves from Ida, or skim water from the surface of the 
Libyan sea. ' For, I can neither recount how many flowers 
spring up in the Sicilian Hybla, nor how many ears of saffron 
the Sicilian land produces ; nor yet with how many hailstones 
Athos is made white, when the ruthless storm rages on the 
wings of the North wind. Nor yet could all thy woes be enu- 
merated by my voice, even though thou shouldst give me 
multiplied mouths. Sorrows will come upon thee, wretched 
man, so many and so great, that I could fancy that even I 
could be forced to weep. Those tears will make me happy 
unceasingly ; then will those tears be far sweeter to me than 
laughter. Of ill omen wast thou born ; thus did the Gods 
will ; and there was no star favouring or propitious at thy 
birth. No Venus shone, no Jupiter, at that hour ; neither Sun 
nor Moon was in a favourable position. Mercury, whom the 
beauteous Maia bore to the great Jove, did not afford thee 
his light situate with any kind influence for thee. The stars 
of Mars, and of the old man with the scythe, ruthless and 
foreboding no tranquillity, overwhelmed thee. The day, too, 
of thy birth, that thou mightst see nothing but what was 
sinister, was foul and lowering with clouds o'ercast. This 
was the day to which Calamitous Allia 4 gives a name in the 
Calendar ; a day which produced the Ibis as well, a public dis- 
grace. Soon as he, falling from the womb of his impure 
mother, came in contact with the Cinyphian ground with his 
filthy body, the owl of the night sat on an opposite house-top, 
and uttered his ill-boding notes with funereal voice. Forth- 
with the Furies washed him in the sedge of the swamp, where 
the deep waters had overflowed from the Stygian pools. They 
besmeared his breast with the venom of the serpent of Erebus, 

4 Calamitous Allia.~\ — Ver. 221. Allia was a river about fifteen miles 
distant from Rome, near which the Roman army was cut to pieces by the 
Gauls under Brennus. The 16th day of July, on which it happened, 
was ever after considered as ' ater,' or ' unlucky.' 

I I 



482 THE INVECTIVE 

and thrice did they clap their blood-stained hands ; they filled, 
too, his infant throat with the milk of a bitch ; this was the 
first nourishment that entered the mouth of the child. Thence 
does the fosterling imbibe the savage nature of his nurse ; and, 
throughout all the Forum, does he bark out his canine words. 
They swathed his limbs, too, with clouts dipped in rust, which 
they snatched from a funereal pile that had been shamelessly 
deserted. And, that it might not lie down, supported by the 
bare earth, they placed his youthful head upon the flint stones. 
And, when now they were about to depart, they waved near 
his eyes, and before his face, torches made of green branches. 
The infant cried, soon as he came in contact with the pungent 
smoke ; when thus spoke one Sister of the three : " Those 
tears have we destined for thee to endless time, which shall 
ever flow with a cause to excite them." She spoke. Clotho 
ordered her promises to take effect, and, with envenomed 
hand, she spun the black warp. And that she might not 
have to pronounce the lengthened foreboding of his days, 
she said, " There will be a Poet who shall foretell thy destiny." 
I am that Poet ; from me shalt thou learn thy sorrows ; if only 
the Gods give their own energy to my words ; and if the con- 
firmation of events, which thou shalt find to be true throughout 
thy griefs, is consequent upon my lines. And that thou mayst 
not be tortured without the precedents of former ages, may 
thy woes be no lighter than those of the Trojans. Mayst thou, 
too, on thy gangrened foot bear wounds as numerous as Phi- 
loctetes, the Paean tian hero, the heir of the club-bearing Her- 
cules. Mayst thou feel no less pain than Telephus, he who 
sucked the udder of the hind, and who received the wound of 
Achilles in arms, his cure as a friend ; or than Bellerophon, 
who fell headlong from his horse upon the ALe'ian plains, whose 
beauty was nearly his own destruction. Mayst thou see that 
which Phoenix, the son of Amyntor did ; and, deprived of 
thy eyes, mayst thou tremblingly grope thy way with the assist- 
ing stick. And mayst thou see no better, than (Edipus, whom 
Antigone, his own daughter guided ; whose criminality either 
parent experienced. Mayst thou be just as Tiresias, the old 
man celebrated in the prophetic art of Apollo, after he was 
chosen umpire in the sportive dispute : just, too, as Phineus 
was, by whose directions the dove was given as the forerunner 
and guide of the bark, the work of Pallas ; and like Polym- 



AGAINST THE IBIS. 483 

n est or, who lost his eyes, by which, to his sorrow, he had be- 
held the gold ; eyes which the bereft mother 5 offered as an 
atoning sacrifice to the shades of her son. Like the shepherd 
of .Etna, whose future calamities Telemus, the son of Eury- 
mus, had previously prophecied. Like the two sons of Phi- 
neus, whom the same person deprived of sight that gave it to 
them ; like Thamyras and the person of Demodocus. May one 
mutilate thy members, just as Saturn cut off those parts, whence 
he had derived his origin. And may Neptune be no more fa- 
vourable to thee on the boisterous waves, than he was to Ceyx, 
whose brother and wife suddenly became birds ; and to Ulysses, 
the sagacious man, upon whom Ino, the sister of Semele, took com- 
passion, as he clung to the shattered remnants of his ship. Or, 
that one oiilif may not have been acquainted with that kind of 
punishment, let thy divided entrails be torn asunder by horses 
going different ways. Or, mayst thou endure thyself what 
Regulus, who thought it shameful to be redeemed, bore from 
the Punic general. And may noDivinity be present to aid thee ; 
as it was with Priam, to whom the altar of Hercean Jove, as 
a place of refuge, was of no avail. And just as Thessalus was 
precipitated from the heights of Ossa, mayst thou be hurled as 
well from the rocky steep ; or may thy limbs be a prey to 
greedy snakes, just like those of Euryalus, who received the 
sceptre after him. Or may the boiling stream of water poured 
over thee hasten thy death, like that of Minos ; 7 and just as 
Prometheus, mayst thou feed the fowls of the air with thy 
blood far from guiltless, but not so with impunity. Or, like 
the son of Etracus, the fifth from the thrice great Hercules, 
mayst thou be hurled, when slain, into the boundless ocean. 
Or may some boy, loved with a disgraceful affection, hate thee 

5 The bereft mother. ~\ — Ver. 270. Polymnestor, king of Thrace, re- 
ceived under his protection Polydorus, the son of Priam, together with a 
large sura of money which was entrusted to his care. To gain the money, 
he murdered the child, on which Hecuba, the mother of Polydorus, tore 
out his eyes. 

6 That one only.]— Ver. 281. Metius Fuffetius, the king of Alba, 
having engaged to aid the Romans against the Fidenates, behaved with 
treachery; on which Tullus Hostilius took a most cruel revenge, by 
causing him to be dragged to 'pieces between horses. 

7 That of Minos.'] — Ver. 291. Minos was stifled in the vapours of a 
hot bath by Cocalus, the king of Sicily, to whose court Daedalus had fled, 
and whither Minos had ursued him. 

H2 



484 THE LNTECTIYE 

and wound thee with the ruthless sword, like Philip, the son 
of Amyntas. 

May, too, no draughts be mingled for thee, less treacherous, 
than were for him, who was born of Jove wearing the horns. 8 
Or mayst thou perish, suspended in the manner of the cap- 
tive Achseus, 9 who was miserably hanged, the gold-bearing 
stream attesting it. Or may a tile, hurled by the hand of the 
foe, crush thee, as it did him, who was famous with the kindred 
surname 10 of the son of Achilles. And may thy bones repose 
no more quietly than those of Pyrrhus, which, scattered about, 
were strewed in the roads of Ambracia. 11 And mayst thou 
die, just like the daughter of the descendant 12 of iEacus, by 
the impelled darts ; from Ceres it is not possible to conceal 
this wickedness. And, like the grandson of the King, 13 just 
now mentioned in my verse, mayst thou drink extract of can- 
tharides, a parent administering it. Or may some adulterous 
woman be called virtuous for thy murder • just as she was 
called virtuous, by whose avenging hand Leucon 14 fell. And, 

8 Jove wearing the horns. .] — Ver. 300. This was the form under which 
Jupiter Amnion was represented. Alexander the Great asserted that he 
was the son of Jupiter Ammon, and not of Philip. By some writers he 
was supposed to have been poisoned by the agency of Antipater. 

9 The captive Achceus.] — Ver. 301. Achseus, king of Lydia, for his 
oppressions and exactions, was hanged by his subjects, with his head down- 
wards in the river Pactolus, whose sands were said to be golden. Another 
account is, that he was delivered over to king Antiochus by Bolus and 
Cambylus, and then treated in the manner before mentioned, near the 
river Pactolus. 

10 The kindred surname.] —Ver. 303. Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, who 
had the same name as the son of Achilles, was killed by a tile thrown by 
a woman from the wall, as he was besieging the city of Argos. 

11 The roads of Ambracia.] — Ver. 306. Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, 
was slain by Orestes ; and, as we are told, by Hyginus, his bones were 
scattered throughout Ambracia, on the coast of Epirus. 

12 Daughter of the descendant ] — Ver. 307. Laodamia, the youngest 
daughter of Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, fled in a popular tumult, to the 
altar of Ceres, where she was slain by a man named Milo ; on which the 
Goddess sent plagues against the country, and the murderer becoming 
mad, mutilated himself and died. 

13 Grandson of the King.] — Ver. 309. This passage is supposed to 
refer to Pyrrhus, the grandson of Pyrrhus the Great, the antagonist of 
Rome. Olympius, who was either his mother or grandmother, destroyed 
his mistress, Tigris, with poison, and is supposed to have despatched him 
in a similar manner. 

14 Leucon.] — Ver. 312. Leucon is supposed to have been guilty of 



AGAINST THE IBIS. 485 

mayst thou, together with thyself, throw on the pile the dear- 
est pledges of affection ; an end which Sardanapalus ex- 
perienced for his life. And may the sands, driven by the 
South wind, cover thy face, as they did that of Cambyses, who 
attempted to profane the temple of Libyan Jove. May the 
crumbling ashes consume thy bones, as they did of those who 
were slain by the treachery of the second Darius. 15 Or, may 
cold and hunger be the cause of thy death, as with Neocles, 
that once was banished from olive-bearing Sicyon. Or, as he, 
of Atarna, 16 mayst thou be disgracefully carried to thy superior, 
sewed up in the hide of a bull. Mayst thou also be stabbed 
in thy chamber, after the manner of Alexander of Pherse, 
who was put to death by the sword of his wife. And, mayst 
thou, like Aleuas 17 of Larissa, find, by thy wounds, those to 
be unfaithful, whom thou deemest trustworthy. And, just 
like Milo, 18 under whose tyranny Pisa was tormented, mayst 
thou be precipitated alive in the subterranean waters. May 
those bolts, too, strike thee, which were sent by Jupiter against 
Adimantus, who ruled the realms of Phlius. Or, like, in days 
of old, Lenseus, 19 from the regions of Amastris, mayst thou 
be deserted, naked on the ground, that is called by the name 

adultery with the wife of Oxilochus, the king of Pontus, who was his own 
brother, and then, in hopes of gaining the kingdom, to have slain the 
king, on which his paramour, the wife, in revenge slew him. 

10 The second Darius.] — Ver. 317. Darius Ochus, having taken an 
oath never to slay his confederates by poison, famine, the sword, or 
violence, invited those of his faction to a feast. In the room was a trap- 
door, under which hot ashes were placed ; when he had made his guests 
intoxicated, the trap was opened, and they fell into the ashes and were 
smothered. 

16 He of Atarna.'] — Ver. 321. Hermias, the king of Atarna, a city of 
Mysia, having revolted from the king of the Persians, was conquered by 
Hector, the king's general ; and, from what is here stated, he is supposed 
to have been brought before his master sowed up in the hide of an ox. 

17 Aleuas.~] — Ver. 325. Aleuas, king of Larissa, the son of Thiodamas, 
was slain by his guards, whom he had appointed with the view of pro- 
tecting him against the vengeance of his own subjects. 

13 Milo.] — Ver. 327. Milo was king of Pisa, in Elis ; who, in return 
for his cruelty, was drowned by his subjects, in the river Alpheus, a stone 
being first tied round his neck. 

19 Lenaus.] — Ver. 331. Lenaeus, orDionysius, king of Heraclia, being 
expelled by Mithridates, from Amastris, in Paphlagonia, fled to a place 
called the course of Achilles ; and, being abandoned by his friends, he was 
there slain. Achilles had formerly pursued Iphigenia to the same spot. 



486 THE INVECTIVE 

of Achilles, And just as either Eurydamas was thrice dragged 
around the pile of Thrasyllus, hy Larisssean wheels, or, as 
Hector, who, with his body, made the circuit of the walls not 
destined to last, which he had frequently defended ; and as, 
when the daughter of Hippomenes suffered a new kind of 
punishment, her adulterer is said to have been dragged on the 
Actsean soil : so, when thy odious life shall have left thy limbs, 
may avenging horses drag thy filthy carcase. May some pro- 
jecting rock transfix thy entrails ; as were once those of the 
Greeks, returning from Troy, transfixed in the Eubsean strait. 
And as the bold ravisher, Ajax, the son of O'ileus, perished by 
lightning and the waves ; so may fire aid the waves that are 
to overwhelm thee. May thy infatuated mind, too, be fren- 
zied by the Furies, as with Marsyas, who, when flayed, had 
but one wound in the whole of his body. And, as with 
Lycurgus, the son of Dryas, who held the realms of Rhodope, 
who had not the same regard for both his feet. As it happened, 
too, in former times, to Hercules, at (Eta, and to the son-in-law 
of the Dragons, 20 and to Orestes, the father of Tisamenus, and 
to Alcmceon, the husband of Callirhoe. And may thy wife be 
no more chaste than JEgile, that matron, at whom Tydeus might 
blush for a daughter-in-law ; and, than Hypermnestra, the 
Locrian, who had intercourse with the brother of her husband, 
concealing it by the death of her handmaid. May the Gods 
also make thee able to rejoice in a wife, as faithful as Amphi- 
araus, the son-in-law of Talaus, and Agamemnon, the son-in- 
law of Tyndarus, did ; and, as true as the Danaides, the 
grand-daughters of Belus, who, daring to contrive the death 
of their cousins, are overwhelmed everlastingly with water up 
to their necks. May she burn, too, with the flame of Byblis, 
and of Canace, as though with that of a torch ; and be not 
thy sister known to thee, but in a criminal manner. Shouldst 
thou have a daughter ; may she be as Pelopea was to Thyestes, 
Myrrha to her own father, and Nyctimene to hers ; and may 
she be no more affectionate, or attached to the person of her 
father, than thy daughter was to thee, Pterelas, 21 or thine to 

20 Son-in-law of the Dragons.] — Ver. 349. This was Athamas, who 
married Ino, the daughter of Cadmus and Hermione, who were fabled to 
ha\<e been transformed into dragons. 

21 Pterelas.] — Ver. 364. He was a king of Thebes, who was betrayed 
by his daughter, Cymetho, or Comaetho, in her extreme admiration of 
Amphitryon, his enemy. 



AGAINST THE IEIS. 487 

thee, Nisus ; and, than Tullia, who made the place accursed by 
the fame of her wickedness, and crushed the limbs of her father 
with the wheels driven over them. Mayst thou die as the 
youths did, whose heads the summits of the gates of Pisa- 2 
once supported ; and, as (Enomaiis, who stained the ground 
that had been often bathed in that of the wretched Suitors, 
more deservedly with his own blood. And, as Myrtilus, 
the charioteer, did, the betrayer of the remorseless tyrant, 
who gave its new name to the Myrtoan sea. And, as those who, 
in vain, sought Atalanta, the damsel swift of foot ; until she 
was caught, overtaken through the three apples. And as those 
who entered the irremeable retreats of the darkened habitation, 
that concealed the form of the wondrous monster, the Mi- 
notaur. Like those Trojans, whose six bodies, along with 
other six, Achilles, the son of iEacus, in his rage, placed upon 
the lofty pile. Like those, whom we read that the Sphynx 
devoted to a horrid death, when deceived by the obscurities of 
her ambiguous language. Like those who were slain in the 
temple of the Bistonian Minerva ; on which account even 
now the face of the Goddess is covered. Like those, who once, 
as food, made the mangers of the Thracian king red with 
blood. Like those who were exposed to the lions of Thero- 
damas, and like those who were sacrificed at the Tauric rites 
of the Goddess worshipped by Thoas. Like those whom vora- 
cious Scylla, and Charybdis, opposite to Scylla, snatched trem- 
bling from the Dulichian ship : like those whom Polyphemus 
despatched into his vast paunch : like those who entered into 
the houses of the Lsestrygons. Like those whom the Punic 
general 23 drowned in the waters of the well, and made the 

22 Gates of Pisa.] — Ver. 368. (Enomaiis, king of Pisa, in Elis, pro- 
claimed that any one who should conquer him in a chariot -race should 
marry his daughter, Hippodamia ; but that the person who was conquered 
should die. Thirteen were overcome and put to death, and their heads 
were fixed to the gates of Pisa. Pelops won the race by the help of 
Myrtilus, the charioteer of (Enomaiis, who, for a bribe, withdrew the lynch- 
pin from the axletree, so that the king fell to the ground ; whereon Pelops 
gaining the race, won Hippodamia. and, for his treachery, threw Myrtilus 
in the sea that lay between the Ionian and ^Egean seas, which thence was 
called the Myrtoan Sea. 

23 The Punic general.'] — Ver. 391. This is supposed to have been 
Hamilcar, who having deceitfully allured the Senate of the town of 
Acerra into his power, drowned them in wells and ditches, and covered 
their bodies with stones. 



488 THE INVECTTYE 

stream white with, the dust thrown in. Just as the twice six 
maid servants of Penelope, the daughter of Icarus, and her 
suitors perished, and like Melanthius, too, who furnished those 
suitors with arms against the life of his master. Just as An- 
tceus, the wrestler, who lies prostrate, thrown by the Aonian 
stranger, one who (wondrous to relate) was conqueror after he 
had fallen. Like those whom the strong arms of Antaeus 
crushed ; and those whom the Lemnian multitude 24 put to a 
cruel death : like him, who, the discoverer of cruel rites, 25 
slain as a victim, brought down the showers of rain after a 
length of time. As Busiris, the brother of Antseus, strewed 
the altars with that blood which, injustice, he ought, and was 
slain himself, after the example he had set : and as Diomedes, 
who, in his impiety, fed his terrible steeds with human entrails, 
in place of the blade containing the grain : like the two that 
were slain, on different occasions, by the same avenger, Nessus, 
and Eurytion, the son-in-law of Dexamenus. Like thy great 
grandson, Saturn, Periphetas, whom JEsculapius, the son of 
Coronis, from his own City saw yield up his life. Like Sinnis 
and Scyron, the robbers, and Procrustes, the son of Poly- 
pemon, and the Minotaur, who was a man in one part, a bull 
in another. Like him, too, 26 who, surveying the waters of 
this sea and of that, used to let the pine trees pressed down 
spring up from the ground into the air ; and like the body of 
Cercyon, which Ceres beheld, with joyful countenance, dying 
by the hand of Theseus. May these curses, which my anger 
calls down with merited prayers, be thy lot, or others not more 
tolerable than these woes. Just as Achsemenides, deserted on 
Sicilian iEtna, was, when he beheld the Trojan sails approach. 

24 The Lemnian multitude.'] — Ver. 398. The women of Lemnos, 
despising the sacrifice of Venus, were made by her so loathsome to their 
husbands, that they left them, and sought new wives from other regions. 
On their return home, the former wives slew their husbands, together with 
their new-found spouses. 

25 The discoverer of cruel rites.'] — Ver. 399. Thrasius, or Thrasyllus, 
a soothsayer, when a drought prevailed, told Busiris, the tyrant of Egypt, 
that if he sacrificed strangers to Jupiter, rain would fall. Busiris, finding 
him to be a foreigner, ordered him to be sacrificed first. 

26 Like him too.] — Ver. 411. This alludes to Pityocamptes, a notorious 
robber, who infested the isthmus of Corinth, and is generally considered 
the same as Sinnis, the robber that was slain by Theseus ; though Ovid 
here makes them to be distinct individuals. 



AGAINST THE IBIS. 489 

Such, too, as was the fortune of the two-named Irus, 27 and 
of those who post themselves as beggars on the bridge, a for- 
tune which shall be more intolerable to thee. In vain may 
Pluius, the son of Ceres, ever be loved by thee ; and may he, 
ever sought, desert thy fortunes. And as the soft sand gives 
way under the pressure of the foot, as the water ebbs and 
flows, so may thy possessions always melt in some indescribable 
manner ; and, slipping through the midst of thy hands, may 
they ever flow away. Mayst thou, when filled, be wasted by 
insatiate hunger, like the father of the damsel 28 who was wont 
to assume various forms. And may no loathing of human 
flesh come on thee ; and in the only respect that thou canst, 
thou shalt be the Tydeus of the present day. And mayst 
thou perpetrate some crime, by reason of which the steeds of 
the horror-stricken Sun may again be turned from the West 
towards the East. Thou shalt repeat the foul banquet of the 
table of Lycaon, and thou shalt attempt to deceive Jupiter by 
the false appearance of thy viands. I wish, too, that some 
one would try the power of the Divinity, by serving thee up ; 
that thou mayst be the son of Tantalus, and the boy of Tereus. 
And may thy limbs be scattered over the wide fields, as those 
were which arrested the progress of the father of Medea. 
Mayst thou imitate the real bulls in the brass of Perillus, with 
a voice adapted to the figure of the bull. And, like the cruel 
Phalaris, thy tongue first cut out with the sword, mayst thou 
lament in imitation of the bull, enclosed in Paphian brass. 
And whilst thou shalt desire to return to the years of a more 
youthful age, mayst thou be outwitted like Pelias, the aged 
father-in-law of Admetus. On horseback mayst thou be swal- 
lowed, like CurtiuSy in the gulf of the pervading swamp, only 
so that there be no glory in thy deed. And mayst thou perish, 
like those sprung from the teeth sown in the Grecian fields 
by the Sidonian hand of Cadmus. May the direful impreca- 

27 The two-named Irus."] — Ver. 419. He was a notorious beggar of 
Ithaca, who is mentioned in the Odyssey. His original name was Arnaeus, 
which was afterwards changed to Irus. He was slain by Ulysses with a 
blow of his fist, for aiding the suitors of Penelope. 

28 Father of the damsel.'] — Ver. 427. Erisicthon, a Thessalian, having 
cut down a grove of Ceres, was punished with insatiable hunger. His 
daughter Mestra, or Dryops, having the power of transforming herself, con- 
sented to be sold in various forms to procure the means of satisfying her 
father's hunger, which often compelled him to devour his own flesh. 



490 THE rSTECTIYE 

tions fall upon thy head which the grandson of Pentheus 
uttered, and the brother of Medusa ; and those with which, 
in the little book, the bird was accursed, which purges its own 
body with water injected. 29 And mayst thou endure as many 
wounds as Osiris is said to have borne, from whose rites the 
knife is said to be absent. And mayst thou insanely hack 
thy worthless members to the Phrygian tune, like those whom 
Mother Cybele influences. 

From a man mayst thou be made neither man nor woman, 
like Atys ; and mayst thou shake the jarring tambourine with 
effeminate hand. Mayst thou, too, suddenly be changed into a 
lion, the beast of the great Mother Cybele, just as the con- 
queror, and she that was conquered 30 in the foot-race, were 
transformed. And, that Limone alone may not have expe- 
rienced that punishment, may the horse tear thy entrails, too, 
with savage tooth. Or, as he of Cassandria, 31 not less cruel than 
that tyrant, mayst thou, wounded, be entombed in the earth 
heaped on thee. Or, as Perseus, the descendant of Abas, or 
the Cycneian hero, mayst thou, shut up, be precipitated into 
the waves of the deep ; or mayst thou be slain, a victim at the 
sacred altars of Phoebus; a death which Theudotus 32 received 
at the hands of a cruel enemy. Or may Abdera devote thee on 
the appointed days, 33 and may multitudes of stones, in a shower, 
be hurled upon thee so devoted. 

Or mayst thou be struck by the three-forked bolt of Jove, 
like Capaneus, the son of Hipponoiis, and like Atrax, the 
father of Dosithoe ; like Semele, the sister of Autonoe ; like 
Jasius, whose aunt was Maia ; like him, who badly guided the 
horses that in his rashness he had desired. Like Salmoneus, the 

29 With water injected.'] — Ver. 452. The Ibis was said by the ancients 
to purge its own body with injections of sea- water, by the aid of its bill ; 
and thereby, to have first led to the use of the clyster pipe. 

30 She that was conquered.'] — Ver. 460. Hippomanes and Atalanta were 
changed into lions by Cybele, whose temple they had defiled. 

31 He of Cassandria.] — Ver. 463. See the note to Pontic Epistles, Book 
ii. Epistle 9, 1. 43. 

32 Theudotus.] — Ver. 468. Asserting himself to be king of Bactria, he 
was conquered by Arsaces, the king of Persia, and was sacrificed by him 
to Apollo. 

33 On the appointed days.] — Ver. 469. The people of Abdera, in Thrace, 
were accustomed, at the beginning of each year, to vote the death of one 
individual in behalf of the state ; on which, the person so named, was 
stoned to death. 



AGAINST THE IBIS. 491 

cruel son of iEolus ; like him born of the same parent as she 
was sprung from, who, as the Bear, ever avoids the flowing 
waters. As Macedo, with her husband, was struck by the swift 
lightnings, so, I pray, mayst thou fall by the fires of the hea- 
venly avenger. Mayst thou also be a prey to the dogs, by 
which Latonian Delos may not be approached, Thasus, the 
priest of Apollo, having been torn by them before his time; and 
who pulled in pieces him who beheld the bath of the modest 
Diana, and Linus, the grandson of Crotopus, And mayst thou 
not be more lightly stung by the venomous serpents than 
Eurydice, the daughter-in-law of the old man (Eagrus, and 
of Calliope ; than Opheltes, the son of Hypsipyle ; than 
Laocoon, who was the first to pierce with his sharp spear 
the wood of the suspected horse. And mayst thou not 
approach the lofty stairs more cautiously than Elpenor, and 
mayst thou feel the effects of wine in the same manner 
as he did. And mayst thou fall, as much vanquished 
as each Dryopian 34 that aided the inhuman Thiodamas, who 
called them to arms ; as much as Cacus, who fell slaughtered 
in his own cave, betrayed by the voice of the heifer shut up 
there ; as much as Lichas, who bore the gifts dipped in the 
Lernsean venom, and who dyed the Eubcean waves with his 
own blood. Or mayst thou come to Tartarus from the steep 
rock, like him who read the Socratic book 35 upon death ; 
like him who beheld the deceiving sails 36 of the ship of 
Theseus ; like the boy Astyanax, who was hurled from the 
towers of Troy; like Ino, the nurse of the infant Bacchus, 
who was his aunt ; like him, the cause of whose death was 

34 Each Dryopian.] — Ver. 490. Thiodamas, having refused food to 
Hylas, the son of Hercules, Hercules slew some of his oxen. Thiodamas 
thereupon raised an army against him ; on which he was defeated, toge- 
ther with the Dryopians, his allies. 

35 The Socratic book.'] — Ver. 496. Cleombrotus, an academic philoso- 
pher, having read ' Phaedo,' the hook written by Plato, the scholar of So- 
crates, on the Immortality of the Soul, in his extreme desire to enjoy the 
happy state there described, threw himself off a rock into the sea, where 
he was drowned. 

36 The deceiving sails."] — Ver. 497. iEgeus, seeing black sails on the 
ship of his son Theseus, on his return from the conquest of the Minotaur, 
supposing that it was a token of his son's death, threw himself into the 
sea, which thence assumed the epithet of 'iEgean.' 



492 THE INFECTIVE 

the invention of the saw. 37 Like the Lydian virgin, 38 who 
threw herself from the lofty rocks, and who had uttered 
opprobrious expressions to the reluctant Deity. May a preg- 
nant lioness, a native of thy country, meet thee on thy pater- 
nal soil, and may she be the cause of thy death, resembling 
that of Phayllus, king of Amhracia. May, too, the boar which 
slew the son of Lycurgus, and Adonis, who was born of a tree, 
and the bold Tdmon, tear thee as well ; and may he, even 
when dead, give thee a wound, as with him, upon whose face 
the head of the transfixed boar fell. 39 Or mayst thou be like 
him whom a pine-nut slew with a similar fate, and mayst thou 
be as the Phrygian, and the hunter of Berecynthus. 40 Should 
thy ship touch upon the Minoian sands, may the Cretan mul- 
titude take thee to be a Corcyrsean. 41 Mayst thou enter a 
house about to fall, like the offspring of Aleuas, 42 when the 
Constellation was propitious to the man who was the son of 
Leoprepis. And, like either Evenus or Tiberinus, drowned in 
the rapid stream, mayst thou give a name to the flowing river. 
And may thy head, a fit prey for wild beasts, be a prey for 
man, cut off like that of the son of Astacus, 43 from thy muti- 

37 Invention of the saw.] — Ver. 500. Perdix, the nephew of Daedalus, 
invented the saw. His uncle, stung with jealousy at his skill, threw him 
headlong from the tower of the temple of Minerva, at Athens. The God- 
dess, however, supported him, and he was changed into a partridge, which 
was called hy his name. 

38 The Lydian virgin."] — Ver. 501. Ilex, the daughter of Ibycus, a 
Lydian, being loved by Mars, was protected by Diana against him. Re- 
viling the God, Mars became incensed, and killed her father, on which 
Ilex became mad with grief, and threw herself from a rock into the sea. \ . 

39 The transfixed boar.] — Ver. 508. Thoas, a hunter of Andragathia, 
having captured a boar, instead of sacrificing both the head and feet to 
Diana, kept the feet, and hung up the head only by a string tied to a tree. 
Falling asleep beneath it, it fell upon him, and smothered him. 

40 Hunter of Berecynthus.'] — Ver. 510. Atys and Nauclus, two hunters, 
sleeping under pine-trees, were killed by the pine-nuts falling upon them. 

41 A Corcyrcoan ] — Ver. 512. The people of the isle of Corcyra had 
been guilty of an insult to the bones of Minos, king of Crete. The inha- 
bitants of the latter island were consequently in the habit of sacrificing any 
native, of Corcyra who might fall into their hands, to the shades of Minos. 

42 Offspring of Aleuas.] — Ver. 513. Scopas, the Thessalian, the son 
of Aleuas, was slain for his impiety, by the fall of his house, from which 
calamity Simonides, the poet, who was his guest, was saved by the inter- 
vention of Castor and Pollux. 

43 The son of Astacus.] — Ven 517. Menalippus, the youngest son of 



AGAINST THE IBIS. 493 

lated carcase. And, as they say that Broteas did, in his desire 
for death, mayst thou place thy limbs to be burnt on the 
lighted pile; Shut up in a cage, mayst thou suffer death, like 
the compiler of the history, 44 that availed him nothing. May, 
too, thy insolent tongue prove thy destruction, as it was the 
ruin of the inventor of the abusive Iambics/ 5 Like him, too, 
who slandered Athens in his limping verse, 46 mayst thou 
perish, despised, for want of food. And, as the poet of the 
satirical lyre 47 is said to have perished, may thy breach of 
faith be the cause of thy ruin. And, as the serpent gave the 
wound to Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, mayst thou, too, 
perish from a sting containing venom. May the % first night of 
thy marriage be the last of thy life : Eupolis and his new- 
made bride died in this manner. As they say that Lycophron 48 
the Tragedian perished, so may an arrow stand fixed in thy 
vitals. Or, torn in pieces, mayst thou be scattered in the woods, 
by the hands of thy relations ; just as Pentheus was scattered 
about, at Thebes, who was descended from Cadmus changed 
into a dragon for his grandsire. And mayst thou be drawn over 
the wild mountains, a bull dragging thee ; just as Birce, the ty- 
rannical wife of Lycus, was dragged. And, that which Philo- 
mela the unwilling supplanter of her sister suffered, may thv 
tongue, cut out, fall before thy feet. Like him that was named 

Astacus, having been slain in the Theban war, his head, when cut off, was 
mangled and gnawed by Tydeus, to the great disgust of Minerva. 

44 Compiler of the history.'] — Ver. 522. Callisthenes, of Olynthus, 
wrote a history of the exploits of Alexander the Great, in which he launched 
out into extreme praise of that monarch. Being accused of conspiring 
against his master, his nose, ears, and lips, were cut oif, and his limbs 
were mutilated, and, after being carried about in a cage, he was put to 
death. 

45 Inventor of the abusive Iambics.] — Ver. 523. This was Archilochus 
the poet, who employed the Iambics against Lycambes, as before men- 
tioned. He was afterwards banished, by reason of the numerous enemies 
that his satirical turn had created against him. 

46 Limping verse.] — Ver. 525. This is generally supposed to refer to 
Hipponax, who, in verses called Scazons, a limping measure, inveighed 
against Bupalus and Athenis, inhabitants of Athens. 

47 The satirical lyre.]— Ver. 527. This is supposed to refer to Alcasus, 
the Lyric poet, who broke his promised allegiance to Pittacus, by whom 
he was put to death. By some, Stesichorus is supposed to be here re- 
ferred to. 

43 Lycophron.]— Ver. 533. Contending with an antagonist as to the 
-dative merits of their poetry, he was slain by him with an arrow. 



494 THE rSTYECTIYE 

Blsesus, the founder of Cyrrha, late in its erection, mayst 
thou be found in innumerable parts of the world. And may 
the industrious bee, as it did to the poet Achseus, 49 fix its hurt- 
ful sting in thy eyes. Bound, too, on the hard rocks, rnayst 
thou have thy entrails torn, like Prometheus, whose brother's 
daughter was Pyrrha. Like the son of Harpagus, 50 mayst 
thou recall the example of Thyestes, and, slaughtered, mayst 
thou enter the bowels of thy parent. Mayst thou have thy 
members mutilated, thy parts being lopped off by the cruel 
sword, just as they say that the limbs of Mimnermus were. 
And as it was with the Syracusan poet, 51 may the passage of thy 
breath be closed, thy throat being stopped up. May thy en- 
trails, too, he exposed, the skin being stripped off; like him 
whose name the Phrygian river bears. Mayst thou, to thy 
misery, look upon the face of Medusa, that changes into stone, 
she who, though but one, put to death many of the subjects 
of Cepheus. Mayst thou feel the bite of the mares of Potnise 
like Glaucus, and mayst thou leap into the water of the sea, 
like another Glaucus. 52 And as, with him who had the same 
names as the two just now mentioned, may Gnossian honey 53 
stop up the passage of thy breath. Mayst thou -too drink, 
with trembling lips, the same which Socrates, the most learned 
of men, accused by Anytus, once drank with serene counte- 
nance. May nothing, shouldst thou love anything, happen to 
thee more fortunately than it did to Heemon ; and mayst thou 
enjoy thy own sister, as Macareus did his. Or mayst thou be- 
hold what the son of Hector saw from his native towers, when 
now the flames prevailed on every side. Mayst thou expiate 

49 Achcsus.} — Ver. 543. When composing a poem in his garden, a 
swarm of bees settled on his head. Trying to drive them away, they 
fixed their stings in his eyes, and blinded him. 

50 The son of Harpagus.'} — Ver. 547. Harpagus, not having killed 
Cyrus, as his grandfather, Astyages, had ordered him, was invited by the 
king to a feast, when his own son was served up to him as the chief dish. 

51 The Syracusan poet.} — Ver. 551. Theocritus is supposed to be here 
alluded to, who, by some writers, is said to have been hanged for railing 
against Hiero, king of Sicily. 

52 Another Glaucus.} — Ver. 558. Glaucus, a fisherman, seeing the fish 
when caught, revive on eating a certain herb, ventured to taste of it, on 
which he leaped into the sea, and became a God of the ocean. 

53 Gnossian honey.} — Ver. 561. Glaucus, a Cretan, playing at tennis, 
or, as some say, following a mouse which he was trying to catch, fell into 
a vessel filled with honey, and was smothered. 



AGAINST THE IBIS. 495 

thy crimes with thy blood, like Adonis, who was begotten by 
his father, who was his grandfather, and whose own sister, by 
criminality, became his mother. May such a kind of weapon 
stick in thy bones as that with which Ulysses, the son-in-law of 
Icarius, is said to have been slain. And as the loquacious 
throat 54 was stopped up in the horse that was made of maple 
wood, so may the passage of thy voice be closed by the thumb. 
Or, like Anaxarchus, mayst thou be brayed in a deep mortar, 55 
and may thy bones, when struck, rattle instead of the real 
corn. And may Phoebus enclose thee in the lowest depths of 
Tartarus, as he did Crotopus, the father of Psamathe ; the same 
as he had done to his own daughter. May that plague, too, 
attack thy family which the right hand of Chorsebus con- 
quered, and so aided the wretched Argives. Like Hippolytus, 
the grandson of iEthra, doomed to perish through the wrath 
of Venus, mayst thou, in exile, be dragged by thy frightened 
horses. As the host, Polymnestor, slew his foster-child, on 
account of his great riches, may thy host slay thee, on account 
of thy want of riches. As they say, too, that his six brothers 
were slain, together with Damasicthon, son of Niobe, so may 
all thy race perish, together with thee. As the harper, 
Amphion, added his own death to that of his wretched 
children, so mayst thou have a deserved loathing of thy own 
life. Or, like Niobe, the sister of Pelops, mayst thou become 
hard with rock growing over thee, and, like Battus, who was 
ruined by his own tongue. If thou shalt cleave the vacant air 
with the hurled quoit, mayst thou fall, struck by the same 
circle as the boy, Hyacinthus, the son of (Ebalus. If any 
water shall be cleaved by thy alternating arms, may every 
stream prove more injurious to thee than that of Abydos, over 
which Leander swam. As the Comedian perished in the midst 
of the waves, while he was swimming, so may the Stygian 

04 The loquacious throat.] — Ver. 571. This is supposed to refer to a 
man named Anticlus, who, when shut up in the wooden horse which was 
carried within the walls of Troy, was seized with a desire to answer Helen, 
who, standing outside, imitated the voice of his wife. Ulysses stopped 
his throat, hy the pressure of his thumb, and so effectually precluded his 
utterance that he never spoke again, being suffocated. 

55 In a deep mortar. ]— Ver. 573. Anaxarchus, a philosopher of Abdera, 
was condemned by Mcocreon, the tyrant of Cyprus, to be pounded with iron 
pestles in a mortar, which torment he suffered with the greatest fortitude, 
and biting off his own tongue, he spat it in the face of the tyrant. 



496 THE INYECTIYE 

water suffocate thee. Or else, when, shipwrecked, thou shalt 
have escaped the boisterous sea, mayst thou perish on touching 
the shore, as Palinurus did. And may the pack of watchful 
hounds, the care of Diana, tear thee too in pieces, like the 
Poet of Tragedy. 56 Or like Empedocles, of Trinacria, mayst 
thou leap upon the face of the giant Enceladus, where the 
Sicilian iEtna vomits forth flames in abundance. May the 
Strymonian matrons tear asunder thy limbs with insane nails, 
thinking they are those of Orpheus. As Meleager, the son of 
Althaea, burned with distant flames, so may thy funereal pile 
be consumed by the flame of a branch. As the new-made 
bride, Creusa, was deceived by the Phasian chaplet, and as 
the father of the bride, and, with the father, the household. As 
the venom, diffused, pervaded the limbs of Hercules, so may 
the pestilential poison consume thy body. May those wounds, 
from a new-fashioned weapon, await thee too, by means of 
which his offspring avenged Lycurgus, the son of Pentheus. 
And, like Milo, 57 mayst thou endeavour to cleave the fissile 
oak ; and mayst thou be unable to remove thence thy hands 
caught there. Mayst thou perish, too, through thy own gifts, 
like Icarus ; against whom the drunken crowd raised their 
hands in arms. And as Erigone, his affectionate daughter, 
did, through grief for her father's death, do thou cause the 
noose of the rope to go round thy throat. Mayst thou too 
endure famine, the threshold of the house being blocked up, 
like him to whom his own mother 58 herself gave sentence of 
punishment. Mayst thou outrage the statues of Diana, after 
the example of Agamemnon, who sped on his rapid path from 
the port of Aulis. After the example of Palamedes, the son 

56 The poet of tragedy.'] — Ver. 597. Euripides, the Greek Tragic poet, 
having supped with king Archelaus, on returning home, was attacked by 
the dogs that kept the temple of Diana, and was torn to pieces by them, 
his enemy Lysimachus having set them on him for that purpose. 

57 Milo.'] — Ver. 612. Milo of Crotona, a man of enormous strength, 
endeavouring to withdraw the wedges that had been inserted in a cleft 
oak, the wood suddenly closed and caught his hands, which were held so 
fast that he could not withdraw them, and he became a prey to wild 
beasts. 

53 His own mother. ~\— Ver. 618. Pausanias, a general of the Lacedae- 
monians, being condemned for treason, was shut up by the Ephori in the 
temple of Minerva, and the door was blocked up with stones, his mother 
throwing the first stone against it. 



. ibis. 497 

oe punished with death on a false 
j it be of no advantage to thee that thou 
. c it. As the host, the priest of Isis, deprived 
.,1. his life, whom, lo remembering it even to this 
^rives afar from her rites. And as the bereft mother, by 
_xie aid of her lamp, betrayed Melantheus as he lurked in 
darkness after the murder ; so may thy breast be pierced with 
the hurled darts ; so, I pray, mayst thou be injured by thy 
own allies. May such a night be passed by thee, as was by 
Dolon, the Phrygian coward, who bargained for the horses 
which the brave Achilles used to drive. Mayst thou, too, enjoy 
no better sleep than Rhesus did, and those who were the com- 
panions of Rhesus, both in his death and before, in his 
journey ; and, than they did, whom the active son of Hyrta- 
cus, and his companion, put to death, together with the Rutu- 
lian Rhamnes. Surrounded, too, like the son of Clinias, 59 with 
smoky flames, mayst thou carry thy half-burnt limbs to Sty- 
gian doom. May rustic arms also prove the destruction of thy 
life, as they were for Remus, who dared to pass over the new- 
built walls. Lastly, I pray, that amid Sarmatian and Getic 
arrows, thou mayst live and die in these regions. These 
things have been only sent thee in a hurried work, that thou 
mayst not complain that I am forgetful of thee. They are 
few indeed, I confess, but may the Gods grant more than 
is asked for, and, in their kindness, may they multiply my 
wishes. 

Hereafter, thou shalt read still more, and that which shall 
contain thy true name, written in Iambics, the measure in 
which ruthless warfare ought to be waged. 

59 The son of Clinias.']— Ver. 635. Alcibiades, the son of Clinias, being, 
through the agency of Lysander, banished from Athens, fled into Phrygia. 
Pharnabazus, sending persons to slay him, they set the house on fire, on 
which he made his way through the flames, but at length fell dead, pierced 
with darts. 



END OF THE rNTECTIYE AGAINST THE IBIS. 



K K 



THE 

HALIEUTICON; 

OR, 

TREATISE ON FISHES. 

A FRAGMENT. 



This fragment is full of lacunas and corrupt readings. Ovid seems to 
have intended to depict in this poem the points of resemblance in ter 
restrial and aquatic animals. From its treating on the nature of fishes 
he calls the work Halieuticon, from the Greek word akuvg, i a fisher, 
man/ Some writers have attributed this fragment to Gratius Faliscus 
a Roman poet, the author of the Cynaegeticon, a treatise, in verse 
on hunting ; but Pliny the Elder (Book xxxii. c. 2) distinctly says, 
that Ovid is the author ; his words are — ' The disposition of fishes, which 
Ovid has mentioned in his work called Halieuticon, appears to me really 
wonderful/ Commentators generally believe this poem to have been 
written by him during his exile at Tomi.* 

**.*-* r^ wor j ( j reC eived the law; and he gave arms 
to all beings, and reminded them of their self-preservation ; 
for thus it is that the calf threatens, which, not yet bears 
horns on its tender forehead ; for this reason the hinds flee, 
the lions fight valorously, the dog defends himself by his bite, 
the scorpion by the sting of its tail, and the light bird flies away 
with agitated wings. 

All have a vague fear of a death that is unknown to them ; 
to all it has been granted to be sensible of the enemy, and the 
means of defence that have been given them, and to know 
the power and the manner of using their weapons : and thus 

* The different versions of this Fragment vary so much, that it has 
been thought proper to adopt those readings, which seem most likely to 
imply the writer's meaning, without reference to the text of any individual 
commentator. A few passages are of very obscure signification, and are 
open to considerable doubt. 



TREATISE (S FISHES. ' 499 

too, the scarus 1 is caughby stratagem, beneath the waves, and 

at length dreads theoait fraught with treacherousness. It 

dares not strike die sticks 2 with an effort of its head; but, 

turning awa-, as it loosens the twigs with frequent blows of 

its tail, it makes its passage, and escapes safely into the deep. 

Moreover, if perchance any kind scarus, swimming behind, 

sees it struggling within the osiers, he takes hold of its tail 

in his mouth, as it is thus turned away, and so [it escapes.] 

The cuttle-fish, slow in flight, when perchance, it has been 
caught under the buoyant wave, and every moment is in dread 
of the hands of the spoiler, vomits from its mouth a black 
blood, that tints the sea and hides its path, deceiving the eyes 
of those that follow. 

The pike, taken in the net, though huge and bold, sinks 
down, crouching in the sand which it has stirred up with 
its tail. * * * * 3 It leaps into the air, and uninjured, 
with a bound it escapes the stratagem. The fierce lamprey, 
too, conscious of the smoothness of its round back, turning 
Us head, in preference, 4 towards the loosened meshes of the 
net, with its slippery body at last escapes clear through the 
multiplied windings, and, injurious in the example it has set, 
it alone slips through them all. But, on the other hand, the 
sluggish polypus sticks to the rocks with its body provided 
with feelers, and by this stratagem it escapes the nets, and, 
according to the nature of the spot, it assumes and changes 

1 The scarus."] — Ver. 9. This fish is, by some, supposed to mean the 
1 parrot-fish ; ' hy others, ' the char.' The scarus was esteemed a great 
delicacy at the Roman tables. It is not now known to naturalists what 
were the various fishes to which, in the translation, the Latin name only 
is given ; this circumstance, of course, renders it impossible to give their 
present names in English. 

2 The sticks.'] — Ver. 11. Radiis. This alludes to the sticks, or twigs, 
which formed the sides of the ' nassa,' which was a contrivance for catch- 
ing fish by the junction of willow rods. This, being somewhat in the shape 
of a large bottle with a narrow mouth, was placed with the mouth facing 
the current. 

3 * * * *.] — Ver. 17. The words here are, ' Uber Servato, quern 
texit, in - - - resulset.' They are not capable of any translation. 

4 Turning its head in preference.] — Ver. 27. ' Magis conversa.' 
These words seem to be used in contradistinction to the word ' aversus,' 
as applied before to the ' scarus,' when endeavouring to make its escape. 

ek2' 



500 

its colour, always 14 <>hted 

upon ; and when it ha^ gi 

the fishing-line, it likewise cic 

the rod, when, now emerging into tin. 

and spits forth the hook that it has desponw 

But the mullet, with its tail, beats off the pena:*^. 
snatches it up when thus struck off. The pike, lashed into 
furious rage, is carried along with its flounderings on every 
side, and follows the current that carries it on, and wriggles 
about its head, until the cruel hook falls from the loosened 
wound, and leaves its opened mouth. The lamprey, too, is 
not ignorant of its own powers of attack, and is not without 
its sharp bite on the instant as its means of defence ; nor, 
when caught, does it lay aside its fierce spirit. The anthias 
uses those arms, which, being behind it, it does not behold ; 
it knows, too, the power of its back-bone, and turning its 
body with its back downwards, it cuts the line and intercepts 
the hook fixed in the bait. 

As to the rest of the animals which inhabit the dense woods, 
either vain fears are ever alarming them, maddened with terror, 
or the blind ferocity of their nature is ever throwing them 
headlong into dangers. 5 Tis nature itself that prompts them 
either to take to flight, or to rush into close conflict. See 
how the intrepid lion rushes on, to scatter the ranks of the 
hunters, and hoiv he presents his breast to the hostile darts. 
Wherever he approaches, he burns with rage, more and more 
confident, and more spirited ; he shakes his mane, and he 
adds anger to his native strength. He rushes on, and, by his 
own courage, he hastens his death. 

The hideous bear, as it rolls along from its Lucanian 5 dens, 
what is it but a sluggish mass, ferocious, and of a stolid dis- 
position ? The wild boar, hard pressed, signifies his anger by 
his erected bristles, and, with a bound, rushes amid the wounds 
of the opposing steel, and, followed up, dies with the weapon 
transfixing his vitals. 

Another portion of the animals, trusting in their fleetness, 
turn their backs on the pursuer ; such as the timid hares, and 
the deer with tawny hide, and the stag, flying with unlimited 

5 Lucanian.'] — Ver. 57. Lucaniawas a district situate in the south of 
. Italy. 



OR, T T 



501 



terror. 5 Tis n? J ^nem, either to take to 

flight, or to 

Th e 1 .iid the greatest glory belong 

t0 + 1 .xstinct, he covets the victory, and 

WTiether it is that he has gained the 

courses 6 round the Circus ; do you not see, 

_ erect the victor raises aloft his head, and dis- 

Jl to the applause of the crowd ? or, whether it is 

^s lofty back is adorned with the slaughtered Hon ; 

proudly, how remarkable for his stately air, does he walk, 

<md how his hoof, as he returns heavily laden with the spoils of 

victory, 7 actuated by the generous impulse, strikes the ground ? 

Which is the especial point of merit in the dog ? What in- 
trepid boldness there is in them ! What sagacious aptness for 
the chase : what powers of endurance in following. Now they 
are snuffing ^the air with elevated nostrils ; now they are ex- 
amining the track with nose close to the ground ; and now, 
with their cry, they proclaim that they have found, and urge 
on their master with their voice. Should the prey escape his 
attack, then, over hills and over plains does the dog pursue. 
All our toils are centered in their skill ; on that do all our 
hopes rely. 

But I would not recommend you to go out into the midst of 
the ocean, nor to try the depths of the open sea. You will do 
better to regulate your cable 8 according to each kind of loca- 
lity. At one time, the spot may be rugged with rocks ; such 
demands the pliant fishing-rod ; whereas the smooth shore re- 
quires the net. Does some lofty mountain send its deepening 
shadows over the sea ; according to their different natures, some 
fsh avoid, and some seek such a spot. If the sea is green from 
the weeds that grow at the bottom * * * 

H* »l» »t» H» 

let him apply patience, and let him watch by the soft seaweed. 
Nature has designed, in a varied manner, the bottom of the 

6 Seven courses.] — Ver. 68. The extent of the race in the Circus 
Maximus, was always seven times round the ' meta/ or goal. 

7 Spoils of victory.'] — Ver. 74. ' Spoliis opimis.' This literally means 
the spoil taken from a prince or general of the enemy. It is here applied 
to the lion, as being the king of the wild beasts. 

8 Your cable ~\ — Ver. 87. 'Funem.' This seems to apply to the rope, 
by which the boat or punt of the fisherman is moored. 



502 



THE HAjJJEUTICO^ : 



ocean, and she has not willed that &U fish should frequent the 
same haunts ; for there are some that Jove the open sea such 
as the mackarel, 9 and the sea ox, and th e darting hippurus 
and the gurnet with its swarthy back, and £- valuable neton/ 
unknown m our waters, and the hardy sworcil-fish, not less 
dangerous than a sword with its blow, and the .timid tunnies 
that fly in large shoals ; there is, too, the little .sucking-fish' 
wondrous to tell! avast obstruction 10 to ships ; you, to ° r ' 
pilot-fish, the companion of the vessels, who always follow 
the white foam of the track that they make along the ocean, 
and the fierce cercyros, that haunts the bases of the rocks ; the 
cantharus, too, unpleasant in its flavour, the orphas, like it in 
colour, and the erythinus, reddening in the az^re waves ; the 
sargus, remarkable with its spots and distinguished by its fins, 
the sparulus, refulgent with its gilded neck, the glittering pagur, 
the tawny shark, and the ruff that re-produces itself, deprived 
of two-fold parents ; besides ; the rock-fish, n with its green 
scales and its little mouth, the scarce dory, the tinted mormyr, 
and the gilt-head, rivalling the brilliancy of gold ; the grayling, 
too, with its livid body, the darting pike, the perch, and the 
tragus. Besides ; the melanurus, remarkable for the beauty 
of its tail, the lamprey burning with its spots of gold, the 
green merling, the conger-eel, cruel with the wounds which 
it inflicts on those of its own kind, the sea-scorpion, in- 
jurious from the sharp sting in its head, and the glaucus 
that is never beheld under the Constellation of summer. But 
on the other hand, some fishes extend themselves on the 
sands covered with weeds, as the scarus, which fish alone ru- 
minates the food it has eaten, and the prolific species of the 
pilchard, the lamyros, the smaris, the filthy chromis, and the 
salpa, 12 deservedly in little esteem; the fish, too, that imitates; 

f 9 The mackarel.] — Ver. 94. ' Scombri/ This name is supposed by 
naturalists to have belonged to the mackarel ; but it is by no means cer- 
tain to what fish it was given. 

10 A vast obstruction.'] — Ver. 99. The ' Echeneis remora,' or sucking 
fish, was supposed, by sticking to the rudder or keel of a vessel, to be able 
to stop its sailing. 

11 The rock-jish^—VeY. 110. ' Saxatilis.' This probably is not the 
name of any fish ; but, as the poet had forgotten the name, he uses it as 
denoting its habits. 

12 The salpa.]— Ver. 122. Pliny the Elder tells us that this was a sea 



OR, TREATISE ON FISHES. 503 

beneath the waves, the pretty nests of the birds ; and the 
squalus, and the red mullet, tinted with a faint blood colour ; 
the sole, too, shining in its whiteness ; the turbot, like it in 
colour; the pearl-fish, 13 admired on the coasts of the Adriatic; 
the broad epochs, and the frog-fish, with its soft back. 
The last appear * * * ' * 

5|» JjC 3|5 n> *|* 

The slippery gudgeon, too, that hurts with none of its 
prickles ; the ink-fish, that carries a black liquid in its snow- 
white body; the tough sea-pigs, and the twisting caris ; the 
cod-fish too, 14 little deserving of a name so ugly ; and you, 
too, the acipenser, famed in distant waters * * * 

fish, which, like a stock fish, required to be beaten with rods in order to 
make it tender. 

13 The pearl fish.] — Ver. 126. * Rhombus/ This fish is generally 
supposed to have been the turbot, or pearl ; though * passer/ which has 
been just mentioned, is supposed also to have been one of the names of 
the turbot. 

14 The cod-fish.] — Ver. 131. ' Asellus.' This fish was highly esteemed 
by the Romans, and is generally thought to have been the cod-fish. Its 
name ' asellus ' is, literally, ' little ass,' for which reason, with his usual 
punning propensity, Ovid says that it does not deserve a name so ugly. 



THE ESTD. 



J. BILLINc 



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